Twin Blades: A Rune Factory 2 story
by Destiny Cera
Summary: Enjoy this story/guide to RF2! Note for all: Kyle has been renamed Cutter, Aria and Aaron will be renamed Kaia and Kaio when they appear. )
1. Chapter 1

Twin Blades

A Rune Factory 2 Fan-fiction

Chapter One: The First Cut

"Wandering...that's all I've been doing...since I can't remember when...not that _that's_ any help, since I can't even remember anything!" The red-haired, brown-eyed male grumbled to himself. Looking up to where he finally stopped, his face changed to a smile. "Wow, this place is nice..." Walking a little farther in, he noticed a tree with pink blossoms on it. "And these flowers are so beautiful..." He was so entranced by the flowers he'd found that he didn't notice a young woman about his age coming up behind him.

The black-haired, purple-eyed female smiled, saying quite cheerfully, "Oh, hello!"

Jumping a bit from nerves, the redheaded boy turned and replied shyly. "Oh, um, hello…"

Looking him over a bit more than necessary, the girl finally said, "Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. Are you just passing through?"

Blinking a bit from confusion, the boy replied, "Passing through? Um, I think so…"

Now it was the girl's time to blink from confusion. "You think so? You mean you're not sure?"

Sweatdropping, the boy smiled sheepishly. "That's…one way to put it." As the girl laughed at that, some more blossoms fell from the tree with a fresh breeze. He turned to get a better look. "Wow…how beautiful…"

The girl, thinking he meant here, blushed. "Oh, you really think so? Hee-hee. Thank you."

The boy looked back with an embarrassed smile before clarifying. "Uh, that tree, I mean. It's really pretty…"

The girl cleared her throat to cover her own embarrassment before saying anything. "Ah, yes it is! It's called a 'cherry tree.' They bloom with pink blossoms this time of year! That's one of the reasons I love coming here…

Nodding to himself, the boy smiled. "Yeah, I think I could get used to this place…

The girl blushed once more. "Really? That's great!"

Before the boy could ask why it was so great, he felt vibrations in the ground. "W-Watch out! It's an earthquake!" Unfortunately, he was off the mark – it wasn't an earthquake; it was an angry giant of a man!

The brown-eyed blonde spoke more to the girl than to the boy. "Mana! I am not going to let you marry him!"

The girl, Mana, was thoroughly embarrassed. "Father?! Marry? What are you talking about?!"

The man suddenly looked teary. "You promised me that you'd stay my little girl forever!"

Now Mana was angry. "Yeah, when I was six! Why are you even talking about this?!"

The man's tears stopped as anger replaced them just as suddenly as they'd appeared. "Don't try to hide it! I overheard you two talking about love and feelings and that sorta stuff!"

Mana calmed a bit, but was still exasperated. "Father, we were talking about how much we love the flowers!"

The man blinked and then laughed a bit. "Oh, you were? Whew, that's a relief! Don't scare me like that, Mana!"

Mana now looked put out by this whole affair. "You're the one who scared US!" With a sigh, she looked back at the boy who hadn't spoken a word during this little exchange. "I'm sorry about that… This is my father. I hope he didn't scare you too much…"

The boy just smiled, even as he sweatdropped. "It-It's okay!"

Mana's father then looked to the boy once more. "Well, Mana, who is this fellow, anyway?"

Mana smiled. "He says he's just passing through town."

The man once more looked menacing. "Just passing through town, eh? Well, you'd better hurry up and GET out of town before you get any funny ideas about marrying my daughter! As long as there's breath in my lungs, I won't let anybody marry my little girl!"

The boy's sweatdrop grew. "R-Right…I kinda gathered that…"

Mana was mortified. "Father! Will you be quiet?"

The man looked a bit chagrined, defended himself saying, "Mana, it's only out of concern that I…"

Mana interrupted him then. "But you're embarrassing me!" Once more, she turned to the redhead. "Listen, I'm really sorry about all this…"

Now he was simply sweating, not wanting the father to get at him anymore than he already had, thinking she was being nice because she liked him or something. "No, don't worry about it…"

Mana sighed. "I don't even know your name! I'm Mana, and this is my father, Douglas. And you are?"

_Oh, great…ask me the one major question I can't even answer to myself…_ The boy shook his head. "I'm…Well, I don't know how to say this, really, but I'm not sure WHO I am…"

Mana looked surprised. "What?! Really? Why not?"

The boy shrugged again. "I don't know! I can't remember who I am, or where I'm from… Nothing! But I felt like something was drawing me to this town…"

Mana smiled at that for some reason. "Really? Well, I'm glad you ended up here! I guess you don't have any plans to go anywhere else, do you?"

He blinked at that. "Um, not really, no…"

Mana looked to her father suddenly. "Hey, Father, do you think we could lend him that farmland?" _Farmland?_

Douglas thought for a moment. "Hmm… Well, nobody's using it right now, anyway."

Mana looked back to the unnamed boy. "There's some farmland just inside the town! Would you like to use it?"

The boy was completely taken aback. Yes, he'd heard right – farmland. And here was this Mana girl just handing it to him. "What? But we only just met, and I couldn't possibly impose…"

Mana just smiled more. "Oh, you wouldn't be! It's just going to waste right now. Really, I'd feel better if someone was living there."

The boy was desperate to get out of this, now! "Well, let me think about…"

Douglas cut him off, angry once more. "There ain't nothin' to think about! Mana's telling you to use it, boy! You'd better listen to what my daughter says!"

The boy was shocked. She wasn't ever going to be his bride, but he had to obey her anyway? What a raw deal. Still…he liked his face where it was. "Y-Yes, sir!"

Mana turned to her father, mad as well. "Father!"

Douglas quieted down. "Sorry…"

Mana sighed and looked to the boy again. "Sorry again about my father…But you really should use the farm! Besides, my father and I run the general store. If you move into town and buy things, you'll be helping us, too!"

The boy smirked, totally defeated. If he said no, Douglas was going to get after him…he only had one option… "Really? Well, if you insist…Sure, I'll use the farm!"

Mana clapped. "Great! Here, let me show you the way… Oh! But first, we really need something to call you…"

As she spoke, the boy was rubbing his arm a bit. Looking at what he was rubbing, he saw marks like that of a knife or sword in his lower arm. They were faded, but still visible to his eye. That was it. "Cutter." He murmured.

Mana blinked, wondering what was up with his arm. She didn't see anything wrong with it. "Cutter, huh? That's a nice name!"

The boy, now named Cutter, nodded with a smile. "Thanks!"

Mana smiled back at him. "All right, let's go! The farm is just to the east of here!"

"Just to the east of here. Got it." Cutter replied to show he'd heard. Mana and Douglas took off before he did, but Cutter wasn't worried. If he stayed going east, he'd find the farmland. Right now, he just looked up at the sunny sky and smiled to who/whatever was watching over him. _Some crazy girl and her overprotective father: Not what I would have asked for, if I'd asked for help, but I won't complain…just yet._

Once Cutter reach an area that looked like a farm, he stared. This place was BIG! Mana waved him over. "This will be your farm, Cutter!"

"Wow, this place is huge!"

Mana sweatdropped a bit at that statement, looking over the overgrown fields. "It actually hasn't been used in a while, so it'll need a little work… Hee-hee…"

Cutter just shook his head, smiling. "I think I can handle it. Don't worry."

Mana was relieved to hear that. "Sounds good. Here." She said, holding out a set of farm tools to him. "Take this hoe and watering can. Go ahead and try them out!"

Cutter blinked, taking the items. "Uh, you mean like, right now?"

Douglas looked pissed again. "Mana just told you to try 'em out! What are you waiting for? Be a man!"  
_One day, I'll be man enough to kick your…ah, forget it._ "Y-Yes, sir!" With that, Cutter swung the hoe and the feeling that came with it, surprisingly, was one of experience.

"Wow, you look like a natural!" Mana piped up.

"R-Really?" He'd felt that it felt right, but was it that obvious to others.

"Yep! Now try the watering can."

Cutter also used the can with surprising ease for one just using it now. _Was this what I used to do before? …_

"Wow! You already water so well!" Mana said.

"Yeah! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were born to do this! There's a natural farmer somewhere in you, kid!" Douglas complimented.

Cutter was now embarrassed with the praise._ How hard is it to swing a hoe and water the ground? Geez…_ "Well, I…I don't know about that…"

Mana smiled. "We can give you both together for 100 gold coins. It's a special sale price! Take it or leave it!"

Before Cutter could do more than gape, Douglas piped up. "What?! 100 for both?! That's cheap! Too cheap, kiddo!"

So these weren't gifts so he could even start? All he had was 150 coins. But if what Douglas was saying about it being cheap… Cutter fished out the 100-gold coin-piece from his pocket and handed it to Mana. So what if it was a rip-off? It was better than having to buy it for more money!

Mana takes the money and puts it in her apron before bowing. "Thank you! Well, good luck, Cutter! Oh, we also sell seeds at our house, so be sure to stop by sometime!"

Douglas nodded. "Do us proud, kid! Ya don't work, ya don't eat!" He laughed heartily.

Cutter started to sweat just a bit, thinking that he'd just been tricked into working here…

Mana shook her head at her father before looking to Cutter. "Okay! Now, you need to give your farm a name! What would you like to call it?"

Cutter thought for a moment, and the phrase M-Syndicate came to his head. That wasn't the name of a farm, what was that? However… "I think I'll call it M-Syn." A good shorting of this…place that came to mind.

Mana blinked. "M-Syn Farm, huh? Kind of a sharp ring to it."

Thinking it was a compliment, Cutter grinned. "Thanks!"

Mana looked around and dusted off her apron. "All right, looks like you're all set, then! Well, you should get to work and start making money!"

Cutter smiled to himself. Yeah, so I can spend it in your store, right? He suppressed a chuckle. "Um…y-yeah, I guess you're right…"

"See you later, Cutter!"

"See you later, Mana!"

"Remember to come by our shop if you have any questions! Oh, or if you want to buy something!"

Cutter rolled his eyes. "O-Okay! Will do!"

"Thanks! And good luck!"

Cutter knew what to do with the tools, but as for seeds? "Wait, Mana!" When she stopped and turned to look at him, he continued. "How do a sow any seeds I plant?"

Mana smiled. "Oh, that's simple. First you have to till the soil, then plant them, then water them, but ONLY when it's not raining. If they get too much water, they won't grow right." Thinking for a moment, she takes a small bag of seeds out of her apron. "We got these in stock right now, but this was an extra…since you brought the watering can and hoe, I can give you these Pink Turnip seeds for free."

Douglas smirked. "Feeling generous, eh, Mana? Lucky you, kid! Just make sure you can get those seeds to grow!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Cutter said with a sweatdrop. Hopefully he would make them grow without issue. Once Mana and Douglas had left the farm, Cutter planted and watered the seeds he'd been given. _This hoe and watering can are worth the money I spent!_, he thought to himself. _They can cover a 3x3 area with only a little rune energy used. Too bad the can only has 30 squirts of water in it…_

Entering the house, Cutter looked over the lower area, which contained a fridge, an item shelf, and a bookshelf. In said bookshelf, he spotted something odd. _Is this a magic book?! _Taking it down from the shelf, he saw it was indeed a magic book: Fireball! _I'm not that good with magic, but I can give it a try._

Taking the book with him, Cutter left his farm for a bit to check out the town. He ran into two other young women as he did so: A blonde with purple eyes named Julia, and a blue-haired, green-eyed female named Rosalind De Sainte-Coquille. They seemed to be good friends and that pleased Cutter. Nothing like someone to have your back, right?

As Cutter entered De Sainte-Coquille Park in the center of town, he first noted to himself that Rosalind must come from a wealthy family to have a park with her last name on it. The second thing he noted was a board placed on the fountain in the center. Curious, he went over and saw it was a message board with one note thus far tacked onto it. He was about to investigate the note, when he heard Mana once more.

"Check out town?"

"Yes." Now he was speaking clearer to this girl that had surprised him. Especially since "Father" was nowhere in sight! "What is this board for?"

"Oh, that! It's the town message board. When someone needs help or is just lonely, they'll post a request here. We all try to help each other this way."

"Sounds nice." Cutter nodded to himself. _Very neighborly, much?_

Mana nodded, pleased. "Who knows? You may get a request from me!" With that and a cheery whistle, she wandered off.

Cutter blinked at that, then looked at the note on the board. Sure enough, it was from Mana. He chuckled. "May as well have just told me the request was from you, Mana… Deliver an Emery Flower to Rosalind…At least I know who that is!" Cutter took the note down and went to find Mana so he could deliver this special flower.

Entering the Pumpkin General Store (_Funny name there, Douglas_), Cutter heard Mana say welcome before Douglas came forward. "Hey, kiddo. A real man would buy something nice and expensive right now!"

Cutter sweatdropped. "Um, no, I'm not here to buy anything today…" _Not when all I have is 50 gold pieces thanks to your earlier sale to me…_

Douglas seemed to be upset…as usual. "What?! Do you think you can just waltz right in here and ask for my daughter's hand in marriage? I won't allow it!"

Mana was mortified again as Cutter chuckled to himself. _Overprotective much?_ "Father! I'm sorry about him. Really."

Cutter continued to sweatdrop as he held up his hands to Mana. "N-No, don't worry about it…" PLEASE don't worry, or your father will think he has reason to beat me up!

Mana smiled, oblivious to Cutter's internal pleas. "Don't let him get to you. You're welcome here anytime!"

With that out of the way, Cutter explained he was there to fulfill the message from the message board. "Oh, thank you, Cutter!" Mana exclaimed before handing him a flower that appeared made of gold. "This is the Emery Flower. It's very rare so please be careful with it."

"N-No problem." Cutter stuttered, being trusted with something so valuable was a bit nerve-wracking. "I'll get this to Rosalind real quick!"

"Do you know her already?" Mana asked, curious.

"I just met her on the way into the park, she was talking to a girl named Julia."

"Ah!" Mana seemed relieved. Why? "Julia runs the bathhouse. It's closed today, since it's Monday, but it'll be open tomorrow."

Cutter nodded. "Good to know. If you'll excuse me…" With a small bow, he took his leave of the general store and all but ran to where he'd last seen Rosalind and Julia…who were still there. _Thank the gods!_ "Rosalind, I have a delivery for you from Mana."

"Oh, that's very nice of you, Cutter. If we don't use the message board, it might as well be a chunk of wood." With that, Rosalind took the Emery Flower. "Please, give Mana my thanks as well."

"Will do." Cutter saluted, making both girls giggle as he ran off. Once back at the general store, he called out, "Mana! I delivered the flower."

"Thanks, Cutter. Here – this is for the delivery help!" Mana handed him his 100-gold coin-piece back with a wink. "Good?"

"Very." Cutter chuckled. _Now I'm back to where I started…very good. I practically __**did **__get those tools for free!_

With that done, Cutter visited more places and meet more people: The Alvarna Clinic was where he met Natalie the doctor, and mother of aspiring doctor Ray and a fortune-teller named Alicia. While the Mother was kind to her patients, especially the young girl child Cammy who'd came in for a scraped knee, she thought the fortune telling was nonsense and her daughter didn't appreciate that!

Peeking into the Sharper Edge Blacksmith shop, he met Tanya and her son Roy. Tanya was trying, of all things, to get her son interested in a fine sword, while all that the boy wanted was his dinner! Still Roy was a precocious thing, even knowing how to say amnesia in proper context when Cutter said he couldn't remember who he was and such. Tanya, meanwhile, seemed to be – and gladly admitted to being – obsessed with sharp objects!

After thinking for a bit once Cutter introduced himself, she took out a Skill Seal and handed it to him. "That is a Power Wave Skill Seal. It's used with a short-sword. There ARE others, but that's the only one I've got so far. Hopefully you can put it to good use, once you get a sword!" She laughed and so did Cutter. It was funny: He had a Skill Seal but no sword to use it with.

Checking back at the message board, Cutter saw four MORE notes tacked onto it. _Since I'm new, I guess people are testing me? Or maybe this is how they initiate people into town?_ Whatever. Checking out the first note, he saw it was from Douglas. He wanted something called the Fighting Bull's Horns. Taking the note down, he went back to the general store to see what this was about.

Douglas explained it as briefly as possible. "Tanya wants this horn but it's in the Trieste Forest and I'm pretty busy here. You go get it for me and I'll pay you 100 coins. Got it?"

Cutter nodded and started to head out of the town proper. Mana once more caught up to Cutter as he was just about to leave the Falling Star Path, as they called it and head to the Forest. "Yes, Mana?"

"I heard father ask you to get those horns for Tanya. I think you should go buy a sword from her before you do, though! In all four areas outside of town – Trieste Forest, Blessia Island, Messhina Valley and the Padova Mountains – have monsters living in them. It could be dangerous!"

"I'll be careful, Mana. I promise."

That seemed to be enough for Mana and she left. Once she was gone, Cutter did not hesitate to continue on into Trieste Forest and find the horn, which was actually just left on the ground in what was called the Spring Clearing. Cutter scooped it up without the two monsters in the area – which looked like apples to him – being the wiser.

"I got it, Douglas." Cutter announced as he entered the general store once more. Mana looked relieved that he didn't appear hurt and Douglas seemed pleased that the horn was in one piece!

"Thanks, kiddo. A deal's a deal. Here ya go!" With that, Douglas placed another 100-gold coin-piece in Cutter's hand.

"Thank you, sir." With a salute and Douglas' roaring laughter following him, Cutter went back to the board to see to the other 3 notes. The next one was from Alicia, the fortune-teller, asking to let her tell your fortune. _Seems harmless enough_, he thought, taking the note from the board and heading to the clinic, where he last saw Alicia.

"So, what fortunes are you telling today?"

"Wealth fortunes. Interested?"

"I might be…"  
With that, Alicia chanted a bit, then exclaimed. "I see it clearly!"

Now Cutter was hooked. "What do you see?"

"You will have unexpected finances in the near future."

"Really? I'd better be careful then…"

Alicia beamed. "Thank you, Cutter. Here's your payment for letting me tell your fortune." She gave him a 100-gold coin piece. "However, there is the matter of my fee…"

"You're charging me a fee?!" Cutter blurted out. _What the…_

"I'm a fortune-teller and I just told your fortune. Of course there is a fee. It's 200 coins."

_Great…she just conned me out of 100 coins…_ Cutter thought to himself as he fished the one Douglas have given him before out of his pocket.

"I can't wait to see if my fortune comes true!" Alicia giggled.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it already has…" Cutter murmured, making her clap her hands. _What a little witch…_ He suppressed a chuckle, however. It was kind of funny once the anger left that he'd been conned by a girl who was that ditzy.

_Fourth request of the day is from…Ray. The doctor's son and future doctor if he can cut the mustard._ Cutter nodded to himself. This should be easy – it was just getting Medicinal Herb to the guy, so before he even went to see Ray at the clinic, he picked some from his own fields. "Hey there, Ray!" Cutter said, entering the building.

"Hey, Cutter. I see you saw my request." Ray nodded to the note in Cutter's hand.

"Yes, I did. Any particular place you wanted that herb from or any will do?"

"Any will do just fine." Ray said, before seeing the said herb in Cutter's hand. He laughed. "I guess I'm not too hard to please, hmm? This isn't much, but please take it as payment."

Cutter happily took the 50-gold piece-coin. "Thanks, Ray, I'll see you around."

"Bye, Cutter!"

Cutter looked over the last request on the board. It was from Rosalind about some type of plant called Lamp Grass. _Into flowers, much?_ Oh, well. Taking the note down, Cutter went to her house, the De Sainte-Coquille Manor on the West side of town – thus far, he'd stuck to the East side. As he entered, he noticed a redhead girl dressed as a maid with blue-green eyes and strangely pointed ears enter.

"Sorry I'm late, sir!" The girl mumbled, bowing to the portly man at the top of a two way set of stairs.

"I've been waiting for you! I'm starving!" The man replied. _Evidently not_, Cutter thought. _You'd be food for monsters for days just in the gut alone!_ The man continued to speak to the pointed-eared redhead. "I want to eat a chicken omelet on rice, orcish style. And make it a large serving." _Of course…_

A blonde boy about Cutter's age on the left set of stairs now spoke up. "I'll have some elfish-style escargot, slightly on the tough side, and I'd like some orange tea before the meal." _I'll give you a meal if you ever speak to ME like that…a nice, fact knuckle sandwich!_

Finally, the girl on the right side of the stairs – Rosalind – spoke up. "I'll have…whatever is easy for you to make, Cecilia." _I knew that this was __**not**__ some spoiled rich girl…_Cutter thought with a smirk.

The redhead girl – Cecilia – smiled. "I'll get started right away."

Just then, of all people, Alicia walks through the door. "Do they usually all order separate things? Rice people are such a pain!" Cutter looked at Alicia with new insight. She had said exactly what he was thinking with no shame.

Cecilia lowered her voice, though. "Alicia, they'll hear you!"

Alicia looked to the maid. "I don't care if they do! You must be quite the cook to handle all that at once."

Cecilia sighed. "I've gotten used to it, that's all. Did you need something today, Alicia?"

Alicia grinned. "I have a door-to-door fortune-telling service. Rosalind is one of my best customers, and I go where the money is!" Cutter felt all admiration for Alicia flatten at that comment. _Money-hungry with no tact concerning her customer's feelings…shameful._

Turning away from Cecilia and Alicia, Cutter made his way to Rosalind. "I'm here about your request, Miss."

"Thank you, Cutter. Could you please get me a Lamp Grass that is growing in Trieste Forest? When you enter the Forest, there is a path that splits into two. Take the right path and it should be just there, under your feet."

Cutter nodded. "Sure thing." With that, he went once more into the Forest, and without alerting the apple monsters to his whereabouts, Cutter picked the Lamp Grass flower and headed to Rosalind's house again. "Here you are."

Rosalind inhaled deeply from the flower. "Oh what a lovely fragrance! Did you know this flower's scent can help cure insomnia?"

"No, I didn't." Cutter was curious. Did she have trouble sleeping?

"Yes, it's true. Oh, I almost forgot. Here's your payment." She handed him the 2,000 gold coins as if they were merely 20!

"Thanks, Rosalind!" When Cutter smiled wide at her, she blushed. Oops. Better not make her think he was hitting on her. With a shy salute, Cutter all but ran out the door to the message board area…only to find MORE had been placed there. He chuckled. _Seems I'm quite the popular messenger boy!_

The next request was from the doctor, Natalie. Evidently she had lost her stethoscope and was asking people to look for it, since it was during a house call. Cutter didn't mind helping her out, so he plucked the note down and went to the clinic. "Hey, Natalie. I saw your message. Where do you think you left the thing?"

"I'm very sure I left it at Herman De Sainte-Coquille's house, but I forget where and I'm so busy here that I can't leave. Would you please find it for me?"

"Sure, if he doesn't mind me looking for it!"

"Thanks, Cutter! You're a lifesaver!" Natalie beamed.

Cutter blushed like, _really?_ "I-I'll bring it to you when I find it." He made a hasty retreat before Natalie could thank him anymore.

Seeing the big man eating his chicken and rice, Cutter cleared his throat so as not to startle him, thinking this is probably Herman. "Hmm? Ah, you must be the new young man about town! My name is Herman De Sainte-Coquille." Bingo.

"My name's Cutter. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Natalie has lost her stethoscope and thinks it may be in one of your rooms here. Would you mind if I took a look around?"

"Not at all, my dear boy! Feel free, but please no taking anything BUT the stethoscope back to Natalie. No, no, please don't be upset – I wasn't thinking you would steal anything, it's just I recall some young men take the underclothes of females as pranks…"

"I get the idea!" Cutter cut him off, blushing like a tomato. "I won't, I swear!"

"Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, my rice is getting cold."

"Sure thing…" Cutter said without heat as he left. Yikes! Once his nerves had a chance to calm, Cutter looked in the first room he approached: the one up the far left staircase and in the far left corner. "Hey! What do you know? First guess was right on. Here they are in the dresser!" With that, he went back down to show Herman he had found it. Herman nodded approval and Cutter ran back to the clinic. "Here you go, Natalie."

"Oh, thank you, Cutter. Here, I have some money and an item for you!" Natalie handed him 200 coins and an Empty Bottle. "That bottle is good for storing medicine. You can get it filled up here, but you have to bring the herbs needed and the money for making the potion, okay?" She winked.

"No problem, doc. Sounds fair." Once more, Cutter headed to the board and pulled a random note from it this time. It was from Cecilia and was asking him to find a Ruby for her…and to stay out of trouble? What did that mean? Only one way to find out. Going back to the Manor, Cutter spotted Cecilia cleaning up her pots and pans from cooking. "Hello, Miss. I'm here about the request…"

"Oh, you're Cutter, aren't you? Thank you for doing this for me."  
"No problem, but I was curious. What did you mean, Stay out of trouble?"

"Oh, while getting the Ruby, I want to see if you can do it without hurting any monsters!" She smiled.

_She's cracked…_Cutter thought. How the heck was he supposed to get a Ruby away from monsters without fighting them for it?

"It should just be on the ground in Trieste Forest, around Aegis Falls, so you won't have to beat any monsters to get at it." She continued. OH! That made more sense.

"Okay, let's see how this goes." Cutter replied, giving her a thumbs-up before leaving. Sure enough, the Ruby was resting on the ground in a secluded corner of the Aegis Falls area. Unfortunately, it was below a monster generator, so it was tricky to avoid being shot by these archers that were here, but he did it anyway. "Here you go, Cecilia!" He crowed. "I got the thing without hitting any monsters."

"Oh, that's wonderful! You earned this prize." Cecilia replied, holding out a strange black glove to him. "It's called a Pet Glove, and allows you to tame monsters by showing you care through petting them. However, there are two things to remember. One: They will resist at first and may even attack you, so be careful. Two: You have to have a monster Barn before you can use the glove effectively. If they have no place to live, it doesn't matter if they like you or not. You can talk to Mayor Byron about building one when he's in his office."

"Thanks for the glove and the info, then!" Cutter was just about to leave when she stopped him. "?"

"Come with me. I'm going to help you get ready to build that barn, too!" With that, Cecilia led Cutter to the woodpile behind the manor and gave him a cord of 100 pieces of wood. "Good luck, Cutter."

"Thanks!" Cutter managed to get the wood home without dropping any on his foot or hitting anyone while carrying it. It was heavy, but surprisingly, he seemed at ease lifting it on his own. "Okay, next challenge!" He laughed to himself. The next request was from Herman, which he had titled a Quest for Breakfast. _Probably wants something way exotic that I have to hunt in the Forest for…_

How wrong Cutter was! "I simply must have some more Rice for Breakfast! It's a staple in this household, you know." Herman said to him once Cutter explained why he was there.

He must have appeared taken aback, and rightfully so. _You can't get your fat rear in gear and go to the general store for this?! Or ask Cecilia, who this seems to be her job?_ Finally Cutter got his bearings and said, "Sure, I can get it for you."

"That's a good lad! Thanks ever so much!"

Cutter went to the general store and bought the one Rice Bowl that Herman requested. _270 gold pieces, eh? I guess that's acceptable considering seeds are even more expensive…_

Herman took a hold of the bowl as if it were full of gold rather than rice. Cutter almost laughed, it was funny. What wasn't funny was the amount of money Herman gave Cutter for this simple errand: 3,000 gold pieces! "Oh, you should have this, too, Cutter!" Herman said as Cutter stood like a statue with the money in his hands. It was a black device of some kind. "This is a Milker and you use it on Buffamoo you've tamed to get milk from. Thanks again, Cutter. If you will excuse me…" Herman went to the kitchen, probably to scarf down his food. Cutter, confused but in a happy way, left and put the milker away before heading for his next assignment.

"Now I got one from that girl with the strange dress who's a merchant. Said her name was Yue." Cutter said to himself. Yue was just a few feet away from him, so he talked to himself in a low voice. "She needs something for her skin, hmm? Okay, let's see what the deal is… Hey, Yue!"

The girl jumped a bit, then called back. "Yes, Cutter? You taking my request?"

Cutter smiled. She certainly wasn't shy. "Yeah – what did you need?"

"I wanted some Honey from Trieste Forest. Eating a little every day is supposed to do wonders for dried-up skin. Do you think you can get it for me?"

"I think I can manage that." Cutter said, blushing a bit at Yue's wide smile. "I'll be back soon." He had to go deep into the Forest to get the honey – all the way to the Grassy Path, near a monster generator and some odd crystal to be precise. "Yikes – if she'd told me it was this dangerous to get the honey, I might have bought a sword beforehand…" Coming up behind Yue, still in the park, he held up the honey for her. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Cutter! Here, you can have these for your payment." Yue replied, giving Cutter a bag of Daikon Seeds, a large type of turnip that grew in the winter. "I love these, but I'm no farmer, so I can't grow them myself. Maybe you can give it a shot?" She smirked. _All these scheming women…_ Cutter chuckled to himself.

"We'll see." Done with the board for now, Cutter started in on the West side of town to see what there was there other than the Manor. First he went into Eagle Inn, right next door to the De Sainte-Coquille's home. There he saw Jake, a proud young man that seemed to think humans were beneath him for some reason…he also had pointed ears like Cecilia and the Innkeeper, who turned out to be Jake's father and an Elf! Did that mean that Cecilia and Jake were elves too, or just half-breeds? Not wanting to be rude to Jake's father – whose name was Egan – Cutter just introduced himself and left.

Across the way from the Inn was an impressive church – the Alvarna Chapel. Inside, he overheard another young man speaking to the priest of the church about whether or not there was a god. He seemed upset with the priest's flippant answer about if this man, Barrett, was as strong as he acted why doesn't he just save the weaker people himself? With a huff, he turned to leave and bumped into a young lady who had a hood over her eyes. She seemed to stutter when speaking, perhaps from shyness. Barrett was just as curt with her as he had been with the priest – guess it was his personality all over. After saying hi to the priest Gordon and his oldest daughter Dorothy, the girl in the hood who was _incredibly_ shy with boys, he left to see the last house on the street.

As Cutter entered the house, he noticed that boy again – the one with the red bandana from the church, Barrett. An older gentleman was calling the boy's name and asked where he was going, to which Barrett firmly said it was none of his business. _That was pretty cold, man… _Cutter thought to himself. More so when the older man in question turned out to be Barrett's father and the Mayor! Cutter clumsily excused himself after being noticed by the mayor, who actually apologized for his son's behavior, saying Cutter shouldn't have had to see that. _Poor guy…_

Finally Cutter found himself back in the park, but looking down towards the docks. _What the hey, it's the one place I __haven't __visited yet!_ Walking around the port area, he saw an empty boat and went over to investigate who's it was when Mana showed up, yet again. _This girl really gets around town!_ Cutter thought to himself, before blushing at his own double meaning.

Mana didn't even acknowledge that she noticed his blush as she smiled at him. "Hey, Cutter! I see you found the port. You can take this boat to Blessia Island from here – feel free to use the boat whenever you like, but be careful! Remember, there are monsters there, so get a weapon from Tanya before you head out. OH! And if you want to sleep outside of town, you'll need to buy some sleeping bags – which we just happen to carry!"

Cutter smirked. _Of course you do…_

"Have fun out there, and try not to get hurt, hmm?" Mana said before leaving Cutter alone on the docks once more. He decided to forego going to the island right now and rechecked the board in the park…and found even more notes once again!

"This is getting a bit old…every time I met someone here, they post something for me to do. Oh, well…at least I'm not being ignored, and while some of these requests are a bit boring, they sure pay well!" Cutter grinned to himself before taking the first one he reached for. Egan, the elf from the Inn, wanted him to taste a new dish he'd made. "Cool, free eats!" The fish dish was pretty good, but needed a bit more salt and wine to increase the flavor, or so Cutter thought and told Egan when he asked for his opinion. For his critique, Cutter got a pair of Clippers for whenever he started keeping Wooly monsters.

The next request was simple enough. Barrett was looking for a big book he'd misplaced – which he only told Cutter once he'd spoken with him; the note itself was pretty vague. Barrett even told him the two places he thought it might be: the grocery store or the church. Checking the church first was a good hunch on Cutter's part – it was just sitting in one of the pew aisles. For doing this, Barrett gave him a fishing pole…and a word of caution to not wonder too much on what Barrett was studying. _Geez…do a guy a favor…but I guess that __was__ my fault. I shouldn't have asked._

Looking over the board again, Cutter saw a request from the priest, Gordon. It was asking for an Amethyst gem. _Now where the heck do I get one of those?_ He thought on his way to the church. "Hi, Gordon. You needed some help?" Cutter asked, holding up the note.

"That's right. I need an Amethyst gem from Blessia Island. There are so many monsters there, if I were to be attacked, I couldn't defend myself, what with being a priest now and all." Gordon had once been a fighter, but that was before his priesthood. Cutter often wondered if being a priest was a calculated move to simply not have to fight, but let it go.

"Is it just on the ground, I pick the thing up and bring it back to you?"

"Oh, no! This is not a simple request like that. You have to smash up some of the ore stones on the island to find one. Here – you can have this hammer, for keeps, so you can do so. Just watch out for those beasts, hmm?" Gordon laughed.

_I guess I really have to buy that sword now…_ Cutter had enough money for one, so it seemed about time anyways. Looking over Tanya's wares, he selected the broadsword: a one-handed short sword. It looked simple to use, and actually felt right in his hand. _Was I a swordsman before I came here? _He wondered.

Cutter really didn't need to use the sword, it turned out. He was fast enough to dodge the monsters' attacks and still smash the rocks fast enough to pick up an Amethyst eventually without being hit. _I have the footwork of a swordsman. Maybe I was trained this way before?_ "Here you are, Gordon." He held up the gem once he returned to the village church.

"Oh, thank you, Cutter. It's even in one whole piece! Great! Here's for your troubles." Gordon handed Cutter four 100-gold coin-pieces, equaling 400 coins. Not too shabby.

Cutter was very surprised to see a note from Jake on the board. I thought he didn't like humans from the way he spoke to me at the Inn…why would he ask one for help? A request was a request, however, so he took down the note and went to speak with the half-elf at the weapon-shop where he worked with Tanya. "You were needing some help?"

"Ceci lost something and seems quite upset about it. I want you to find it for her."

"Um…do you know what she lost?"

"Go ask her, human."

"Right…" _You snobby little…_ Cutter didn't like this guy's attitude, but he wasn't going to turn down the request, knowing that it was for a girl's sake he was going through this grief. At the manor, he found Cecilia still working. "Hey, Cecilia. Jake said you lost something and told me to find it for you. He also told me to stop bugging him and ask you what it was."

"He didn't have to be so rude about it, but thank you for doing this. I lost my Pendant in Trieste Forest."

"Don't worry, I'll get it for you."

"Thank you, Cutter."

It was quite simple to once more go around the monsters and grab the Pendant – she hadn't gone too far into the forest it seemed. It was on the ground near where those apple-looking monsters, which he had by now learned were called Pomme Pomme, were in the Spring Clearing. "Here you go, Cecilia. Safe and sound."

"Thank you for going to all the trouble. And please, thank Jake for me, too."

"Sure thing." _Well, I guess he does deserve some thanks. It was his request that made me go get this thing…_ Back at the weapon-shop, Jake was busy at the forge. "I found the Pendant she lost and gave it back to her."

"Good, you helped Ceci. You should be proud, human. I didn't want to give you anything, but I guess you earned this. Here." Jake held out a Sickle for Cutter, which the latter barely restrained from using on the half-elf in anger. "You can use it to clear out weeds and such, but be careful not to just swing it around wildly or you'll cut your own crops down. I know that sounds like something you would do." Cutter gave an abrupt nod and left. It was getting really hard to **not** attack this guy right now…

_I seriously need to beat something up…_ Cutter thought to himself as he checked the time. It was a little after 5pm and he'd found out that today was the second day of the spring season. _Don't have much time for more requests and I really need to calm down a bit…guess I'll go beat up on some monsters in the forest!_ Although the sword still felt right in his hands, he found he was pretty weak right now when it came to the actual fighting against the Pomme Pomme, some sheep animals that he guessed were the Wooly he could tame later, and some giant Ants. Cutter didn't return home until about 10pm and promptly fell asleep, sore but calmer than before. _Be glad it wasn't you, Jake…I don't care I'm not as strong as I think I should be…It still could have been you…_


	2. Chapter 2

Twin Blades

A Rune Factory 2 Fan-fiction

Chapter Two: Stronger and stronger

_Spring 3__rd__, Tuesday_

Cutter awoke the next morning in good spirits. Stretching a bit before facing the day, he thought he felt stronger today than he had yesterday. _Probably from my fighting against those monsters last night_, Cutter thought to himself with a smile. Going outside, he saw his overgrown fields and gave a slight groan. "I think…I need to clear these up a bit…" It took over 2 and a-half hours to do so, but even still, he went back to Trieste Forest in order to gain more strength by fighting. It took him until lunchtime to get tired enough to walk back to Alvarna, but even in that time, his confidence with his sword-skills had gone up.

Checking out the bulletin board in the square, he saw more requests for him. The first one that caught his eye was from Max: the blonde guy that seemed to think everyone had a memory problem and would introduce himself every opportunity. It promised big, easy money and he need that – even if it did not promise to be safe, which he **had** promised in his flyer, despite delivering stuff to Jake: the human hater. "Hey, Max. I saw your note. What do you need me to give Jake?"

"Ah, good of you to come, Cutter. I need you to take this to Jake." Max drawled, handing over a head of Spinach to him.

"…? Okay…" That was strange. It looked fresh, but this was a fall vegetable – how had Max gotten this during the early spring? Oh, well: a delivery job was a job to be done, he thought, walking to the weapon's shop. "Jake? I got something for you from Max."

"Is that spinach? Good – that should double my stamina. Now, if you wouldn't mind, you're in the way of my spear training."

_One of these days…he's going to get it_, Cutter grumbled in his mind, leaving Jake to his practice. "I delivered the spinach…"

"Thank you very much, Cutter. Here is your payment."

Cutter's eyes went wide. "That's…that's 4000 gold!"

Max blinked, thinking he might have shortchanged him. "Do you think I should add a few hundred more?"

"No, no! I'm just...surprised you are paying me so much."

"Oh, pish! I just had this and thought to give it to you for the job. Are you sure you can accept this little?"

"! I'm sure." _Man, if I ever get as rich as this family…_

"All right, then. Hope to work with you again soon, Cutter." Max smiled as Cutter walked off, a bit dazed from his windfall. Checking the board again, he saw that little Roy, the sword-crazy sword-smith Tanya's son, needed help. "Wonder what that kid did? All he says is that he messed something up." Finding Roy was not going to be too hard since he mainly hung out with Cammy, either at the square or in her home – the Church. "I heard you were having some trouble, Roy?"

"Oh, Cutter! Thanks for doing this! See, I was playing around in the house and I accidentally tore the Cheap Cloth that was on the table! If mom finds out, they will never find my body…" The boy literally shuddered. "Please, can you get me another one?"

"Well, yeah, actually I picked one up while fighting the Orcs in Trieste Forest this morning…but you should also apologize to your mother as well." Cutter handed over the cloth as he spoke.

Roy all but jumped for joy. "You saved my hide, Cutter! You do **not** know my mom when she gets mad… Thanks so much – this is for you." The boy handed him some Steamed Bread. Cutter took it and resolved to sell it for more coin rather than eat it. He trusted Roy for the most part, but he didn't think this bread was all that fresh.

Checking out the board again, Cutter saw a request from quiet little Dorothy about a lost amulet. Finding her would be simple as well – she usually hung out around church. However, on his way there, he saw her looking a bit lost near the road between the Inn and the Church. "Hi, Dorothy. I saw your request. Did you need some help?"

"Oh, my amulet…it…it's nothing!" With that, Dorothy ran off.

"Hey, wait! Did you find your…oh, man. I really don't want to scare her by chasing after her, but she must miss that amulet enough to post a note about it…what am I going to do now? I have no clue where to look for it."

Just then, Rosalind passed by. "Hello, Cutter. What are you doing? You looked like you were in deep thought."

"Hi, Rosalind. I was wondering where Dorothy might have lost something. She posted a note about dropping her amulet…"

"You might want to check by the docks. I saw her there a few moments ago, looking for something herself."

"Sounds like the best place for me to start looking for it. Thanks!" Cutter waved to Rosalind as they parted company and sure enough, he saw the amulet along the dock toward the boat that would take one to Blessia Island. _What would she be doing down here?_ Cutter wondered as he picked up the chain of the amulet. _She doesn't look like the type to go to the dungeons._ Regardless, he was going to return this to her – and she would most likely be at the Clinic now. "Here we go, Dorothy – I found your amulet."

"Oh, th-thank you, Cutter. That was nice of you." She handed him 100 gold for his trouble.

"That's really not necessary, but thanks, Dorothy. See you around." Another trip to the bulletin board and Cutter saw he was almost done with the messages there – only 3 more to go. He took Byron's first – he needed someone to find Barrett for him. That would be easy, or so Cutter thought. Barrett had two places he haunted – outside the grocery store or at the bench in Cherry Blossom Square. Today, it seemed Barrett was going out of his way to stay away from his father – he was all the way across town from his house – right outside the weapon shop. "Hey, Barrett!"

"What do you want?" He said gruffly.

"Your dad wants to see you."

"Then why didn't he come himself? I can't stand him…"

"He's probably just busy." Cutter heard something in Barrett's voice that told him something he was surprised at: Barrett did care about his dad, just couldn't show it. After all, he only said he couldn't stand him. That was many shades better than hating the man.

"I just have to see him, huh? This has to be some kind of joke. Okay, later Cutter."

"Sure thing, Barrett…" Unsure whether he'd keep his word, Cutter went back to see Byron and found out that, while not happy about it, Barrett had seen him. For his payment, Cutter got a second Empty Bottle for medicine. Next, he visited Cammy, who claimed she was going to turn him into Super Cutter by a series of tests. The first one, today's request, was through shadow boxing. Despite not remembering ever doing it before, Cutter aced her trial.

"Good going, Cutter! You look much tougher than you did before. You can do anything you put your mind to!" Cammy cheered, handing him some Toyherb seeds for his fields.

Finally, Tanya…self-proclaimed sharp-object-obsessed Tanya had a trial for him too, but this was much different. She wanted him to prove he was worthy of her weapons and to do that she was going to test him thus far by having him pick on the Orcs of Trieste Forest – he would have to defeat 5 of them for his reward. That wasn't too bad – he'd been fighting them already, so he knew how to duck and weave to avoid their clubs pretty well. For doing the trial without getting himself killed, Tanya gave Cutter an Axe and 500 gold.

"Don't get full of yourself having just defeated Orcs, but still… Keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Tanya." Since it was after 3pm and a Tuesday, Cutter decided to head for the Bathhouse for his first bath. Inside, he found Julia.

"Oh, welcome, Cutter! Come on it!" Julia beamed. She was cute, but too fashion-oriented for him.

Just then, Roy came in. "Hey, is Cammy hiding in here?" _Hiding?_

"No, I haven't seen her. Playing hide-and-seek again?" _In the __**bathhouse**__?_

"You're sure? I think I'd better look myself…" _Was he __**really**__ heading for the women's bath area?!_

"Hey, Roy, stop right there! You can't go in there!" _Thank the gods, Roy stopped._

"Hmph! Next time, I'm telling her this place is off-limits!" Roy said before leaving. Julia gave a sigh of both relief and exasperation. Checking over the price of a bath, he saw he really didn't need to spend the 100 gold right away and went out to fight monsters. By 7pm, he was done fighting and decided to cut some wood himself with that axe. He was done by 9:30, slightly more than doubling what Cecilia had given him the day before: an additional 102 pieces of lumber.

"That's enough for today…feeling sore again…" Rubbing his aching arm muscles and stretching out before bed, Cutter drifted off, sleeping the whole night through.

_Spring 4__th__, Wednesday_

Checking his fields first thing in the morning, Cutter saw he needed to water and clear them again. It took him almost 3 hours today – chopping wood and smashing rocks in addition to pulling up weeds and grasses. Once that was done, he checked the board quickly and saw there was one request there today. _Looks like the flood of requests has ebbed_, he thought. _This one is from Julia and she's not out and about today until probably 3pm when the bathhouse opens. I'll just take the note down and wait on it._

With that decided, Cutter went into Trieste Forest and proceeded to mine all 4 mining spots – which yielded 3 Aquamarine and 1 Scrap Iron. Then, since he was done with the forest for now, he went to Blessia Island to mine and fight some monsters. It was tougher to fight on the Island, but it was worth it – he'd mined a Ruby, 3 Amethyst, 2 Fire Crystals and 3 Scrap Iron in addition to claiming 2 Quality Cloths monsters he defeated had dropped. It was still another half an hour before the bath opened, but Cutter thought to sun himself outside the place before going in. He awoke with a jerk some 10 minutes after 3pm. _WOW! I wonder if Rosalind falls asleep in the sun too when she does this… _Cutter thought sheepishly as he entered the bath, for a bath first, then the request.

"Thanks for the bath, Julia. Now, I got this message off the board that said something about lost and found?"

"Could you believe Gordon forgot his Holy Book here at the baths?! Look how thick and heavy this thing is! He's kind of a blockhead, isn't he?" She giggled.

Cutter laughed aloud. "Just don't tell him that to his face!"

"I wouldn't dare!" She giggled again, handing the book to Cutter. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"No problem." Cutter went quickly to the church. "Gordon, I brought back your book of scriptures from the bathhouse…"

Gordon laughed. "I didn't even notice I'd lost it! Thank you!"

Cutter was taken aback. "You didn't notice…?!"

"The book itself isn't important to me. Knowing the scriptures isn't everything. What matters is to believe in them and to live by them!"

"I see."

"Does it sound like I'm just making excuses for losing it?" Gordon laughed again. "Thank you for bringing it to me and thank Julia as well."

"You got it." Cutter headed back to Wisdom Bathhouse. "I gave it back to him, Julia – he said thank you."

"We should both be thanking you for going through this. Here's your reward!" Julia handed him a big glass of green juice. "I made a little too much vegetable juice, so I'll share some with you! See you later, Cutter."

_This does look good, but I need money more than juice right now…I won't tell her, though. It might hurt her feelings._ Cutter thought to himself as he waved goodbye. He went to ask Byron if he could build that Monster Barn that Cecilia was talking about before when she'd given him the Pet Glove, but he wasn't it. It was early and Cutter felt really well after the bath, so he decided to go monster bashing on the Island one more time tonight! Unfortunately, although Cutter got farther into the area, he was lower on health than rune points by the time he got off the Island. _I really need to work on that…_

Since he still had high rune energy in him, Cutter decided to head to the forest to knock some Woolies around with Fireball Magic. Since his experience wasn't that high, he used a lot of rune power in less than an hour, but still – experience was experience. _Time for bed…my hands are way hot…_ Cutter thought to himself as he slept on top of his covers to avoid singeing them with his fiery palms.

_Spring 5__th__, Thursday_

Chopping up some more stumps and branches that appeared on his fields, Cutter checked his supply of wood. He was nearly triple what Cecilia had given him! "That's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. Think I'll go mining since my fields are all clean now. The forest only has a few spots to mine in, but maybe I can finally bully those Orcs out of the way enough so I can clear out that four plot near them as well!" Sure enough, Cutter was able to do so with little damage to himself this time around.

It was about 10am when Cutter finally remembered to head back into town to talk with Byron about the barn. It was going to cost only 50 pieces of wood, so that wasn't a problem, and while it was a hefty chunk of change to give Byron the 5,000 gold, it was only a little less than half of Cutter's saved funds. Since it was a four-story building, Cutter was very surprised to hear it would be done the next day! _Well, guess I should buy some Grass seed so I can be ready for the beasties_, Cutter thought before heading to the General Store. He spent 2700 gold on 9 bags of seed, plenty in his mind.

"While I'm here, I'm also going to buy another bag of Pink Turnip Seed." Spending another 980 gold was a little dear, but Cutter still had nearly 2900 in the till. It was a little after lunchtime when Cutter was done planting and watering all the grass seed he'd bought, but he was very pleased with himself. Thinking he'd kind of been snubbing his neighbors by only farming, mining and fighting when there were no more requests on the board, Cutter remembered that Cecilia liked pretty gems. After all, she had asked him to find a ruby in her last quest.

Taking an Amethyst from his cabinet, he went to the manor to see her. She was very busy cleaning and such, but not too busy to thank Cutter for the gem. _Guess I remembered right!_ He congratulated himself. While he was thinking about it, he also remembered that Alicia liked practicing her fortune telling and Mana **had** said she was very good at weather readings among other things. He paid 10 gold pieces to hear the weather would remain sunny tomorrow. Alicia seemed very pleased at his business, so Cutter made a mental note to visit whenever she was there to see what the weather would bring.

Heading for Blessia Island, Cutter mined some more gems and a bit of ore – a piece of Iron being the best one – from the nine mining spots there. Going back to the village, Cutter thought that he'd never been in the Messhina Valley just yet. _Let's change that – right now!_ Cutter urged himself on as he approached the place. He found a grapevine near the riverbank area and plucked the four ready bunches from it after he defeated the monsters guarding it and their portal. Farther in, he found more monsters and some new mining spots – 5 more to be exact on the path to the mountain.

However, to try getting to the mountain was something else – there were fences he couldn't get through without breaking, just like in the forest and on the island. _Who made these things…and why do I not just bust them open? It's like I know they are there for a reason…but I can't remember why…_ It was frustrating when Cutter thought of it, but he made himself not think of it most of the time.

Finishing off his night by fighting some rooster-like animals – Cluckadoodles – and getting a small egg from one of them, Cutter headed back home, shipped what he could and went to bed.

_Spring 6__th__, Friday_

"YES!" Cutter cheered, seeing his Pink Turnips ready to pick. "Guess Douglas and Mana had little to worry about having me grow those." Before he picked them, however, he watered the sprouting Toyherb flowers and the patches of grass seeds he'd planted before. After picking the ready Pink Turnips, Cutter also planted the bag of seed he'd bought the day before to get another harvest ready soon.

Heading off the farm to start battling in the forest again, Cutter happened upon the barn that Byron had said would be done today. _Barn nothing! This is a house!_ Cutter gaped. Byron stopped by seeing Cutter standing there and explained that each floor of the barn held 4 monsters each. "That makes a total of 16 possible monsters in this one barn. That should be plenty for now." Bryon laughed as Cutter just nodded, stunned.

"Thanks, Bryon."

"No problem, Cutter, my boy. Enjoy." With that, Bryon left and Cutter entered the barn. Once inside, he looked around, barely noticing Mana enter until she spoke.

"Oh, you have a barn now, Cutter?"

"Yep. Paid for yesterday and ready today. How's that for speed?"

Mana giggled. "Since you have this barn and can befriend monsters, I think I'll give you this." With that, Mana handed Cutter what looked like a sheet of music. It was titled 'Special Concerto.'

"What is this?"

"When you play this music, it will make your monsters perform their special abilities, whether that be casting magic, performing a special attack, or even healing you in battle!"

"Wow! Thanks, Mana. That should come in really handy."

Mana smiled, saying over her shoulder as she left. "I know you'll use it well."

_Maybe she's not so bad…_Cutter thought then shook his head violently to clear it. _What am I thinking?! Douglas will paste me to his wall if I go after her now! I need to get stronger before even contemplating that!_

Fighting and mining didn't take long in the forest, so Cutter headed for the valley just before 10am. The forest had been a total bust mining – 4 scrap metal – while the valley did yield a bit better with a pair of bronze and an iron in addition to the scrap metal. "At least I'm getting stronger and better at this!" Cutter said aloud, trying to be positive.

Leaving the valley, he decided now would be a good time to give Cecilia, Barrett and Max a gift. Not because he was wanting Cecilia that badly or wanted to be best friends with Barrett and Max at this point; it was more because he thought he knew what he could give them to make them happier that he'd moved in. To Cecilia at the manor, he gave a Ruby. To Max, since he was there too, Cutter gave a Proof of Warrior, which Max had mentioned he liked since childhood. Finally, he found Barrett, giving him a piece of iron – which Cutter was told not to wonder what it was going to be used for! _Well, that's better than telling me he hated it. After all, I haven't been fishing yet, so I couldn't catch him Salmon in the valley, like he told me he likes…_

Going to the bulletin board, Cutter saw a new posting from none other than Max. He laughed aloud. "Seems that I impressed him with that Proof of Warrior, eh? Let's see what his easy, safe work is this time!" Max seemed to think this work was a "secret mission", so he played along. Cutter was to bring Max an Arrowhead, and no one else was to know of it.

"Uh, Max – I already have one if you want it so bad…"

Max all but snatched the rusty thing from Cutter's hands. "This will definitely prove that **I** defeated a monster. This will stop all the stupid gossip that I'm just a braggart who can't actually fight!"

Cutter looked at Max with a look of wonder. THAT was the secret?! _Oh, man…if I told everyone that I got that for him…_

Max turned to see Cutter still there. "Oh, that's right! I still have to pay you. How rude…" With that Max fished out Cutter's pay: 6,000 gold pieces!

…_That'll keep me silent!_ Cutter thought with only a pinch of shame. After all, this would put food on the table, not spilling the beans on Max. "Thanks, Max!"

After he left the mansion, Cutter went to see Alicia for a weather prediction: Sunny once again. Good for the plants, so Cutter was pleased. Alicia seemed pretty pleased with herself as well and Cutter's payment didn't hurt matters!

On Blessia Island, Cutter fought and hammered ore stones. It was a pretty good haul of gems, with a crystal and some bronze thrown in; only 3 pieces of scrap metal here. He even found an Orange Tree with three ripe oranges on it! Picking them, he headed back home. It was a quarter of 4pm when he decided to get a bath to replenish himself, and then he went to badger some monsters in the forest to work up his magic skills. Once he was out of rune energy, he decided to up his fighting skills in the valley. It was almost 20 past 8pm when Cutter finally came back home and went to bed.

_Spring 7__th__, Holiday_

Cutter woke from a dream with a heavy snore. He hadn't wanted to wake up today – the dream had been sooooo nice. He had traded places with Herman and was having a feast with all the ladies of town! _Well, maybe that was just because I haven't chosen a lady that I really want yet_, Cutter thought to himself getting out of bed. It took 2 hours to get the fields watered and looking decent. Once that was over, Cutter turned his mind to fighting, which for now meant the forest. It was too early for more heavy battle, or so he thought.

3 hours later, Cutter felt better and more limber, so he took his attentions (and sword) towards the valley. About a half-hour after lunchtime, Cutter felt a bit sore, so he left the valley, but very happy: his mining had yielded some silver this time. Since Douglas' store was closed today, he went to see Natalie, in case she'd buy some of his herbs, which she did. Once done with that, Cutter gave Max another Proof and Cecilia, who was at the Inn today, another Ruby. It was as he was walking past the bulletin board home that he noticed Cecilia had a request for him. "Eh? A wild plant for cooking? Whatever does it for Herman, I guess…"

"I really need some Indigo Grass. You can find them at Blessia Island, but I haven't go time to get it myself. Do you think you could get some for me?"

"Sure, Cecilia. Leave it to me!" Cutter almost crowed, making her laugh.

Before heading to the island, however… "Alicia, what's the weather look like tomorrow?"

"Sunny once again! Thanks for checking in again, Cutter!"

Cutter handed her the 10 gold pieces she charged. "No problem. It's actually kind of fun, like betting whether you're going to even say rainy!" He laughed a bit.

Alicia did too. "Well, all good, sunny weeks must come to an end sometime…and you'll be the first to know when it does!" She waved to him as he got on the boat at the pier. It didn't take long to nab the grass, but Cutter spent some time mining as well. It was a little after half-past 3 when he got the Grass to Cecilia, who was now standing with Jake between the bathhouse and the blacksmith's.

"You found it! Thank you! I think I'll be able to make quite a treat with this."

"You think? You mean you've never tried this recipe before?"

"Nope. Say, you want to be the first to sample this dish? It won't kill you. I don't think it will, anyway."

Cutter laughed a bit uneasily. "You know what? I think I'll pass on that…"

"Oh well." Cecilia giggled.

"Maybe next time?"

"You bet! Here's a small token of my appreciation for all your help."

Cutter looked puzzled. 200 gold coins…and a big brush? "Is this for my shoes or something?"

She laughed out loud this time. "No, no. That's for the monsters you catch when you tame them!"

"Oh…okay. I got it. Thanks."

It was only 4pm when Cutter got home, but he was tired from today for some reason and didn't feel like a bath tonight. _I'll take one…oh, that's right; Julia's closed tomorrow…well, looks like I'm dirty until Tuesday then!_ It wouldn't bother him too much to be a little dirty. Now, if he stank, that was something else! Chuckling at his own thoughts, Cutter decided to get some shut-eye. _My first week here…wow…_


	3. Chapter 3

Twin Blades

A Rune Factory 2 Fan-fiction

Chapter Three: A Ladies' Man?

_Spring 8__th__, Monday_

Cutter woke up in a great mood, so great he even hummed while he watered his field and cleared it. He just felt like something good was going to happen today. The fields did not take long to care for today: only about 2 hours. After that, he went to the Valley and gathered some more grapes for later. _It's like squirreling away food for the winter – although that's not a bad idea!_ He chuckled to himself.

Today, after giving Max and Barrett a Proof of Warrior and Iron respectively as gifts, he checked the message board and found a new note from Barrett asking for a monster item. "I wonder what he needs…" Finding Barrett was easy – it was Monday, so he would be on the passage between the clinic and the grocery. "Hey, Barrett – I saw your note. What do you need?"

"I want you to bring me an Arrowhead. It's not that difficult of a job. Even you shouldn't have too much trouble with it."

Cutter made a face. _If it's so easy, why don't you do it yourself?_

Barrett must have guessed what he was thinking. "I'd do it myself, but I'm busy. Will you do it?"

"Yeah, sure. Leave it to me." Cutter said, trying to keep a polite tone, at the very least.

"Good. Thank you."

_At least he'll say thanks. Jake would never…why am I getting so defensive? It's not like he said I'm a weakling…even if that was inferred…Ah, screw it. Let's get the thing and get this over with._ Cutter then remembered he had 2 Arrowheads in his shelf at home. Running home, he got the better of the two and ran back to Barrett.

"Ah, you got it. Thanks! Now my work can continue…"

"Huh? What are you using this thing for, anyway, Barrett?"

"Ah…nothing that would interest you. It's not important. Really."

_What a load of bull._ "You're not very convincing. Come on and spill! What's the big secret?"

Barrett made a face. "You're getting on my nerves! We're done here, okay? Here's your reward. Take it and go, please." Barrett held out the 500 coins for Cutter. "And…thanks." His face softened.

Cutter nodded back as he walked away to the port. _Maybe he's not so bad. He's a good guy, just plays the 'tough man' act a little too much if you ask me. Not that I don't sometimes, but still!_ "Alicia, sun or rain?"

Alicia chuckled a bit. "Cards say sun once more, Cutter-doll!"

Cutter blushed. "…What did you can me?"

Alicia waved a hand. "Nothing. Just something I call Ray on occasion too. Don't get so red in the face! Mom might want to take a look at you."

"R-Right." _God, now I sound like Dorothy…_ "Thanks for the forecast."

"No problem." Alicia continued to read her cards, waiting for customers as Cutter sailed off the Blessia Island.

It was a minute past 10:45 in the morning when Cutter was done mining the Island. Seeing a pool of water in the center of the island, he wondered if he should try his hand at fishing with the pole Barrett had given him before. After a minute's hesitation, he decided to give it a try and start in.

The first fish he caught was a 12-centimeter Masu Trout, then a Char of the same size, then another 12 cm Masu Trout before getting a branch caught on his line. "Heh, not bad for a first timer. Almost 5-inch fish and a branch! Let's try some more." Another branch was his reward before the next 12 cm Masu Trout, a 12 cm Char, and a 10 cm Masu Trout. "Wow, this one is minuscule! Just barely under 4 inches long." Next came a Char of the same petite size then his first "whopper" of a 14 cm Char. "That's better. A five and a half inch fish!" Finally, he caught a 16 cm Masu Trout. "I think this 6 and a third inch fish is the last one for now. It's almost 3 in the afternoon! I better get back to Alvarna."

Heading to the General Store, Cutter sold his catch plus the scrap iron he'd salvaged, making 565 gold in the process. _My farm is now 10, 354 gold in the black! Yes!_

Talking to Tanya once Douglas had paid him, Cutter found out she liked most fruit but her favorite was the simple apple – since she liked peeling it, of course! He had one in his backpack, so he gave it to her for a gift. She seemed really pleased.

Once he was back on the farm, at about 3:30pm, Cutter noticed Mana looking over his shipping box. He sweatdropped, knowing nothing was really in there since he sold most of his items directly to the shops. He had to get more in there. Talking to her, he discovered she liked his current spring crop: Pink Turnips. Putting away his Amethyst and Iron, he saw he had enough Rubies on his shelf, so decided to sell the other two he had with him, earning another 500 gold.

Looking over the request board, Cutter saw that Tanya had put another job up. This time, he was going to go after Orc Archers. _Those aren't too hard for me, I know how to dodge their arrows._ Taking the note from the board, he headed over to the blacksmith's shop to see how many he was going to have to fight. "Come back to me once you've defeated at least 8 Orc Archers. It'll be a bit more challenging, but you should always aim higher, right?"

"You got it, Tanya!" Cutter saluted her before leaving, earning a laugh from Tanya and an eye-roll from Jake. _Oh well – __**I'm**__ going to have fun while I battle, Jake. It's your problem if you got to be so serious all the time!_ However, this attitude got Cutter one arrow just grazing his side before he picked up his rhythm. _Can't let him get in my head like that, even if it does seem like I'm encouraging myself. If they'd been stronger enemies… _Cutter shuddered at the thought as he walked back to the blacksmith's. "I'm back, Tanya!"

"Good job, Cutter! Don't get lazy, though – you've still got a ways to go before you're a master swordsman." She pointed to the bandage he'd wrapped around his side.

"Yeah…you're right."

"Still, you did it, so here's your reward!" She handed him seven 100-gold pieces. "Also, here is a battle hint you may have learned out there: Each monster performs a unique tell-tale sign before they attack. Watch and learn your foes' attacks and you'll know exactly when to strike."

"Got it. Thanks, Tanya." With all his work done for the day, Cutter decided to go into the Valley for some more practice. Once he was tired of beating up Goblins, he tried to catch at least one quick fish and ended up with a 33-cm Chub. "Not bad, not bad." It was past 9pm by then, so Cutter decided to head home and go to bed.

_Spring 9__th__, Tuesday_

Another two hours to take care of the fields, and Cutter was free to do whatever he wanted to with his day. "Seems like that's all the time I need to take care of this field, since I'm only using a few plots. Hmm…maybe I should get more seeds use more of it…" Before that, though, he sailed to Blessia Island to sell some herbs and the Chub to Yue, since she was there all day on Tuesdays.

While I'm here, might as well train a bit and mine, Cutter thought with a smile. It was almost 10am by the time he left the island with gems, bronze, crystals and some oranges in his pack. Talking to Alicia when he got back to the dock, he found out that a certain gem – diamonds to be exact – where her cup of tea. Of course they would be, they're the most rare and expensive gems around! Instead of pursuing that conversation, Cutter asked for the weather.

"Well, you are in luck – tomorrow it will finally rain. Sadly, I don't come to the docks then, so no forecast until it turns sunny again."

"That sucks, but I understand. You wouldn't want to catch cold by standing in the rain all day."

Alicia smiled warmly. "Thank you for you understanding! Most people would assume since this is my thing, I'd be mandated to be out in any weather. Thank you!"

Cutter blushed, handing her the money for her prediction. "See you in the sunny weather."

"Bye-bye! See you soon!"

Cutter was wondering what she meant by that when he walked past the request board…then smiled. There was a new note and it was from her. Alicia needed something for her fortune telling but that's all she said in the message. "Let's see what I need to get her."

"Thanks for coming back, Cutter. I knew you would! Let's get to the point: In Padova Mountains, in the Crossroad area, there is an Amethyst I want to use in my fortune telling. If you get it for me, I'll give you 100 gold. Thanks again!"

Finding the gem was easy enough – it was in the back of a dead end area to the right, not straight through towards the inside of the mountain. The hard part was avoiding the axe-wielding creature that appeared from the sphere and blocked his way. Another few seconds and it could have given me quite the close haircut! "Here you go, Alicia."

"Cutter, you've really got what it takes. I was wrong about you."

_Wrong about me? Like you thought I didn't? _Cutter smirked to himself. _Oh well, at least you know now I do!_

"If I need something from you again, Cutter, I'll put it on the bulletin board, so be sure to check it occasionally!"

"I will, don't worry." With that, Cutter headed home to see what he would keep and what he would sell today. The oranges were a definite keep and so was some for the bronze and an amethyst, but he still had some left over so he'd sell those to Douglas. Cutter also had an extra ruby, which he saved to give to Cecilia. She was very pleased. Going back to Douglas' store, he decided to buy some seeds, paying for a 980 gold Pink Turnip Seed and a 5,400 gold Strawberry seed to plant in the forest. _The seasons don't change in the dungeons so that means those strawberries will grow indefinitely!_

After planting the strawberries and mining the forest, Cutter went to the valley to mine and decided to fish as well. "Dang it, all I'm catching are Chub and branches…and one Masu Trout." Cutter grumbled; having fished for over 4 hours and that was all he had caught. "I thought this river had Salmon in it!" He sighed. "Oh, well. At least I can sell this mess of fish to Yue once I get back to Blessia Island." No sooner said than done, I was almost 7:20pm once Cutter got home and got to bed.

_Spring 10__th__, Wednesday_

Since it was raining this morning, Cutter just chopped up the little bit of wood that was left on the fields and harvested his new Pink Turnip crop. With no watering to do, he decided to walk around town, maybe hand out a few things while he was at it. "Let's see…Mana likes Pink Turnip, Tanya likes Apples…" Cutter hummed as he collected things he knew certain people liked. "Iron for Barrett, some gems for Cecilia and Yue…Proof for Max and a Cheap Cloth for Roy. That does it for today!"

However, it was way too early to deliver anything to anyone but Yue, who always got an early start at the entrance of the forest. Once he'd given her the Aquamarine he'd brought for her, Cutter decided to go apple picking and mining then went to mine the valley as well. After putting the extra away, it was time to go gifting!

"Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts! Let's see if there are any new requests for me." Checking the bulletin board, however, there was nothing new addressed to Cutter. "Oh, well. Guess today will be a lazy day." He grinned to himself as he headed to the island. Mining up an Amethyst there, Cutter gave it to Alicia once he was back in town – she seemed okay with it, but not overly pleased. _Guess that one time she needed it was a rare instance_, he thought to himself.

Heading for the mountains, Cutter was still amazed by the cold. "Definitely a winter situation here." Mining and fighting took up a lot of energy, but by the time he left the mountain area, Cutter had not only gathered several pieces of rare winter white grass, but a Shoulder Piece from the Orc Vikings he'd noticed before, a Wolf Fang, and even a Diamond!

Selling the extra Cutter had gathered, he still was almost broke by the time he was done with Douglas, having bought another Pink Turnip seed for his fields PLUS another 5400 gold Strawberry seed to plant in the forest. _Let the good times roll, strawberry fields forever and all that jazz._

After planting, Cutter began to feel that by-now familiar itch in his right arm. HE wanted to battle the monsters here. _I don't believe I'm an overly violent man, but for some reason, battling seems to be in my blood…and the urge to do so every time I'm in one of these places just is getting stronger with time…_ Cutter exhausted himself fighting the various beasts in Trieste Forest, so much so he was dizzy by the time he was through. _Not good…Cutter, you meathead, you shouldn't get so low on energy fighting!_ He scolded himself as he headed home for bed.

_Spring 11__th__, Thursday_

"Two hours to water all nine of the grass plots, my other two plots in the fields and the two strawberry plots in the forest. Not bad." Instead of going to fight monsters, Cutter found Roy and gave him another Cheap Cloth to use, then waited by the mansion to see Cecilia once she was on duty. He had another Ruby for her, which he was associating with her hair color, although it wasn't so deep red. _Have I decided to want Ceci, the pretty half-elf maid? I just don't know quite yet…_

Checking the board once he'd given Cecilia the Ruby, he noticed a new posting on the bulletin board for her. "Hmm… 'I need someone to stay over'? That…doesn't sound quite right to me, but maybe I'm reading something into this…I better go check with her."

"I have a rather difficult task for you." She started blushing "…Well…I was wondering if you wouldn't mind spending the night at my house?"

"What?!" Cutter began to sweat a bit. _DID I read that right? Oh, gods…_

Now, it was Cecilia's turn to be embarrassed and sweating. "Oh, no no no. I meant as a guest. You know, since it's an inn."

"Oh…yeah…'course it is." Cutter chuckled. "You had me confused for a second there…"

"We haven't had very many guests this month, and Egan seems a little worried. Since I'm lodging there, I figured I should try and help bring in business any way I can."

_Phew!_ "No problem. I can handle that."

"Thank you, Cutter. It'll be a real big help. Whenever you want to stay, just go talk to Egan."

"Sure thing. I'll talk to him later today. It's only 9:30 in the morning now." He chuckled again.

"See you around!" She called as he left the mansion.

Heading for the dock, Cutter spotted Alicia. Waving a 10-gold piece in the air, he called to her. "What's the report tomorrow?"

"Sunny, Cutter-doll, sunny!"

Laughing, he flipped the piece into her palm as he passed by on the way to the boat to the island. "Thanks, girl."

"Anytime."

Once Cutter had finished mining the island and kicking monster butt at the same time, he went back to Douglas' store with the extra. Up from a little less than 900 to a bit more than 2000 gold, Cutter still decided to spend the money and bought a 780 bag of cabbage seed and a 690 bag of Onion seed, bringing his total down to 678 gold. _Talk about a yo-yo budget!_

Planting them in the forest and gathering some more grapes from the valley did not take long, but Cutter thought he might as well go to the inn once he'd given Mana a Pink Turnip. Okay, here we go…

Egan smiled seeing Cutter enter the inn. "Ah, Cutter, welcome."

"Hi, Egan. Say, are there any rooms open today?"

"Huh? Um, yes, we have rooms available, but…"

"Okay, then I'd like to stay tonight. How much will it be?"

The expression on Egan's face was priceless. Evidently, Ceci hadn't told him about this yet. "It's 100 gold, but…Cutter, don't you have your own house?"

Cutter thought to play around with Egan and say his house fell down or need repairs…but then he knew he stunk at lying and had better stick to the truth. "Yeah, well, Cecilia asked me to do her a favor."

Egan's face calmed. "Ah, that makes sense. That sounds like something she would do."

"Well, you're always taking such good care of her, so she said she wanted to help try and get you some business, even if it's just for a night."

Now Egan chuckled. "Taking care of her…Really, she came all the way from Kardia to stay here and help me out. If anyone's being taken care of, it's me. My son Jake might not show it, but deep down he's really happy that Ceci's here too." _Uh-oh…_ Cutter began to think pursuing Cecilia was not the smartest idea. Egan continued. "My old friend Tabatha lives in Kardia. She's the one who recommended this place to Ceci."

"Ah, really?" If Egan could tell Cutter was distracted by his own thoughts, he didn't show it.

"She's a really special girl."

"She is, isn't she?" _Too bad she's not free for the taking._ "So, can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure. I would hate to refuse such a kind gesture. It'll be 100 gold."

Handing it over, Cutter spent a comfortable night at the inn.

_Spring 12__th__, Friday_

"Ahhh, I feel so refreshed… Okay, time to get to work again."

After watering his fields and the plots in the forest, Cutter stopped to talk to Yue for a bit. He found out the Flower Festival was the next day and laughed to Yue, "I bet Gordon and Natalie will be drinking all afternoon."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it." She laughed in return. It was no secret that the doctor liked 'doctoring' her punch during festivities and was not shy to do the same for her friend Gordon. It was one of the reasons people did not see either during festivals – Natalie was still trying to be discreet and only would drink in her office in the hospital, so there Gordon would stay as well. Strangely, Douglas would also crash the hospital party and hang out with both of them. Was he a drinker too? Cutter shuddered to think of Douglas being drunk AND angry with him at the same time.

Still, when Mana posted she wanted a Four-Leaf Clover on the bulletin board, and was specific that she wanted it from Cutter, how could he refuse? Checking with Alicia at the pier whether it would be sunny or not – it would be – he made his way to the island to get said clover. Avoiding the monsters this time around was still tricky, since he had to pass by the dagger-throwing goblin that was near the clover on the right side of the pond in the Center of the island. Still, he and the clover made it back in one piece.

"Here you go, Mana." Cutter smiled, handing it over.

"You found it! Thanks! I'm so happy! Maybe Alicia's reading was right after all…"

Inside, Cutter was flabbergasted. _Excuse me?! ALICIA'S reading?! As in, SHE'S predetermined YOU will be MY bride?! _However, he kept all that inside and calmly inquired, "Reading?"

"Uh, n-nothing, nothing!" Mana laughed, sweating a bit. _She's as bad a liar as I am!_ "Thanks. Here's 200 gold in return. PLUS, I have 100 pieces of wood you can have as well. Thanks. I hope I can count on you again if I need help."

"Sure thing…" Cutter left, still thinking about what Mana had let slip. _What is Alicia doing? __**I**__ haven't even decided whom I want and she's making her predictions on me already?_ He shook his head. Well, Alicia was going to be Alicia, no matter what he said about it.

Mining in the forest later on, Cutter was still distracted. So much so that he actually got hit with an arrow in the rump while fleeing the orc archers! "OW!" Yanking that thing out was not fun, but neither would it have been walking around with that thing sticking out of his behind. "Son of a…Get your head in the game, Cutter. Worry about Alicia and her fortunes later." Thankfully, mining in the valley and mountain areas was less painful.

After selling the extra ore to Yue, Cutter dropped in on the De Sainte-Coquille household and gave Max another Proof of Warrior. He was pleased and reminded Cutter to please attend the Flower Festival to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. That reminded him that he and Mana had met under the cherry tree in the square when he'd first arrived. _Is that why Alicia thinks I'd be suited for Mana: Because of our meeting there?_ Even Cutter had to admit that it seemed likely.

Going to the island for a second time today to clear his head as well as mine, Cutter found the mining to be a bust – out of 8 places to mine, he got 4 scrap irons, which meant he had a 50% yield. Still, could have been worse. At least he had found some ripe oranges to hold onto. Selling the scrap and extras to Douglas, Cutter debated inside about buying more seed for later, but decided against it. Instead, he decided to pay for a bath to clean up for the festival. Once done, he headed home for bed instead of fighting more monsters and getting dirty again.

_Spring 13__th__, Holiday_

Cutter made sure to water all his plots before heading to the festivities. He met Barrett, Dorothy and Jake on the Falling Star path, away from the town and thus the louder areas. Jake's opinion of the festival was somewhat off: he took it as just an excuse to get drunk all afternoon. Cutter laughed at that: for some people it was the truth.

Dorothy was being her usual shy self, but she did say she liked the flowers. Cutter thought to reach out to her and ask if she'd like to see the flowers with him. "Dorothy, want to go look at the flowers with me?"

"Ah…that's…that's very sudden…What sh-should I say…" After a moment, she seemed to make up her mind and replied, "Ah, well…yes…I would… Well, I think…the flowers in Cherry Blossom Square are meant to be…very beautiful. So…let's meet up there, shall we…?" Cutter headed that way first, Dorothy showing up not too much later. "Sorry. Did I make you wait long?"

"No, just got here myself." He smiled, being his usual friendly self.

"O-Oh, really? That's, um, good…" She actually gave him a smile back! "Uh, do you want to go, you know, over to the cherry tree?"

"Sure."

Dorothy seemed so happy looking at the flowers. "It's so pretty…"

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

"I love flowers…The, um, cherry blossoms, too…"

"They really are breathtaking." Cutter was so busy looking at the flowers that he didn't notice Dorothy sneaking a peek at him from under her hood, her face bright red again. "Seeing them for the first time had a tremendous impact on me."

"Yes, they, um, seem more…special than other flowers."

"I know what you mean."

"There's something about just looking at flowers that makes me feel so…peaceful…" She smiled once more. "Well, I should be getting home… Thanks for inviting me out here… Goodbye, Cutter…"

"See you later."

Remembering that Mana had seen this tree with him his first time in town, he decided to invite her to watch them as well.

"Hey, Mana!"

"Hello, Cutter. How are you today?"

"I'm doing fine. Listen, you want to come watch the blossoms with me? You know the spot."

"Sure, sounds great. I know where to go." Once more, Cutter went to the Square and waited. Mana showed up a few minutes later. "Were you waiting long?"

"Nope."

"That's good." Walking with him to the tree, she looked up at the blossoms with something like awe. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"This is the place where we first met."

"Yeah, it is."

"Just think, if I hadn't happened to come by at that very time…"

"If I hadn't wandered to this very town…"

"We never would have met."

"Yeah." It made him a little sad to think he'd have never known Mana, but inside he laughed a bit at thinking then he'd be safe from Douglas! Take about a double-edged sword…

Mana was thinking other thoughts, blushing. _I'm glad I came here that day._

Cutter looked to Mana. "Did you say something?"

Mana blushed brighter. _I hate it when I mumbled under my breath!_ "No, it's nothing. Thanks for coming to look at the flowers with me today. See you around."

"Later." That was odd to say the least. Usually, Mana would stay by his side indefinitely if she got the chance.

Cutter knew he could take a third girl to look at the blossoms – Max had confided that to him yesterday – so he ran through his options. Rosalind? Well, Ray had the biggest crush on her plus everyone would just assume he was after her because she was wealthy, so better not. Cecelia? Not unless he wanted to mess with Jake someday… Julia? Well…Max had confessed he liked her a bit, so no. That just left Yue or Alicia. Yue was nice and all, but theirs was a business relationship, but the same could be said with Alicia if he thought about it. Why was he leaning more towards the fortune-teller?

_Maybe she's the one I like the best here?_ Cutter shook his head at the idea. She was pairing him with Mana, not herself… Still, he couldn't just pass of the fact that he DID think about her a bit more than Yue.

"Hello, Alicia."

"Hello, Cutter. You know what today is! According to my fortune, you're going to ask me out to the Flower Festival, hmm?"

Cutter was stunned. NOW she was pairing them together? Maybe this was a mistake… Still, she'd made him laugh a bit at the surprise. _Life with this one will never be dull._ "DO you want to come look at the flowers with me?"

"My reading was right after all! Yes, I would. Cherry Blossom Square is the best place to go for flowers."

"Meet you there."

Alicia came right when he thought she would.

"Sorry, Cutter. Were you waiting long? According to my fortune, you should have just gotten here."

Cutter grinned. "You're right."

"I knew it! I'm a natural fortuneteller." Looking up at the branches, Alicia suddenly grew a bit mellow. "The cherry blossoms are pretty, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are."

"My fortune says that couples who go on a date here have a high chance of getting married."

_So what: I'm going to marry you, Dorothy and Mana?_ He chuckled inside. "Really?"

"It's true! And my fortunes are never wrong!"

_I wonder if __**that's**__ true…_ Cutter chuckled to himself again.

"Thanks for inviting me out here today. I had a fun time."

"Me too."

Alicia surprised Cutter yet again by giving him the lightest kiss on the cheek. "Talk to you later."

_Whoa! She just… I mean, she… What the…_ Cutter was glad she was the last girl he could take out today, because otherwise, he'd be hard pressed to think of someone else he wanted by him and possibly doing that again! As it was, he was dazed enough that he worried he might get hurt while mining the rest of the day!

As it was, while he took no damage in the forest or the valley, the wolves in the mountain area got him pretty good. Still, it was nothing a little bit of Medicinal Herb couldn't heal. Once he was done mining the island, Cutter decided to try to fish once more. After 11 various sized Sardine and a Turbot, he decided to head back to town to see if Yue would buy them. If not, he'd ship them for tomorrow.

As it turned out, Yue would buy them, it being way past the festival's ending time of 6pm: after 8pm actually! Cutter sold the items to her and went home, hoping against all logic that he wasn't falling for Alicia…since all signs were beginning to point that way…


	4. Chapter 4

Twin Blades

A Rune Factory 2 Fan-fiction

Chapter Four: Shakin' it up!

_Spring 14__th__, Monday_

"Whoa!" Cutter looked outside and knew he had his work cut out for him today. His pink turnips were fully-grown and his 9 plots of grass were nice and tall, ready to be reaped. Once all that and the watering were done at home, he decided to first water the other plots in the forest before gathering any monsters for his barn, although he knew which ones he wanted by now.

_Thank goodness Cecilia gave me the Pet Glove and Brush already_, Cutter thought. _Once I tame the Buffamo in the valley now and the Cockadoodles at night with the Woolies of the forest also at night, I can start tending them with no worries!_

Bess, Bula, Moo, and Moa were easy to tame, simply walking away from him after he petted them with the glove rather than attacking him. Brushing them later on, he was glad of how much feed he had already. From what he had planted, Cutter had assumed he'd only have 81 pieces of feed for his current 4 livestock. Instead, he had 324! _Guess each piece of grass I harvested can feed 4 animals by itself…who knew?_

Looking at the bulletin board later in the morning, Cutter saw SEVEN new memos. _Just by talking to a few people and taking three girls to see the blossoms…_ He chuckled aloud to himself. Oh well – work was work, and he did like being helpful to these people for some reason.

The first task he took on was to get Gordon an Aquamarine – the simplest, since he had a surplus of the gems at home. Before he gave the gem to Gordon, though, he stopped to chat with Barrett and gave him an Iron for his 'secret research'. Gordon was very pleased with the Aquamarine and gave Cutter not just payment of 600 gold, but also more wood. _Everyone in town seems to have a surplus of wood!_

Next he saw Alicia wanted him to "Fulfill a Prophecy". This should be heaps of fun… Cutter thought, groaning a bit at the thought. Still, how bad could it be? "Alicia, you needed some help?"

"Can you go talk with Ceci?"

He narrowed his eyes a bit, suspicious. "Sure, if that's all…?"

"Yes, it is. Oh, but if you can, try to say something charming to her. Make her weak in the knees, you know what I mean?"  
Cutter's mouth dropped on. She was asking him to flirt with another girl?! "WHAT?! No way, Alicia! That's just wrong!"

"Oh, come on!" She laughed.

"What kind of favor is this, you asking me this!"

"Can you keep a secret?" Cutter nodded to Alicia, whom continued. "Ceci had me read her love fortune. I told her she would soon be approached by a handsome man."

Cutter blushed. Did that mean Alicia thought he was handsome too? "I-I get it…"

"There aren't many young men in Alvarna, you see. I just know Barrett and Jake would refuse to do it. And Max doesn't have the backbone. There's always Ray, but really, this isn't something I'd want to ask my little brother to do. So that's how I settled upon you for the job."

_So much for being a handsome guy in her eyes…_ Why did that bother him so much? "Yeah… I mean, I see your dilemma, but…"

"Great! Now go talk to Ceci. I'll even give you a whole 200 gold if you do it for me."

_Money is __really__ not a factor here, you know…_ "Um, can I ask you one question?"

"What?"

"This…It's not really fortune-telling anymore if I do this, is it?"

Alicia laughed again. "You just don't understand fortune-telling at all, do you, Cutter? It's all in the results! As long as the fortune is right in the end, who cares how it happened?!"

"If you say so."

"Okay then. Off with you! I'm counting on you!"

_Great… You're counting on me to make a complete fool of myself… Joy…_ Cutter could hardly wait to get this over with.

Cecilia looked up when Cutter walked into the mansion. She was currently kneeled on the floor in the entryway, scrubbing away…and looked absolutely adorable doing so. "Oh, Cutter. Is there something I can do for you?"

_Just walk away, tell Alicia she wasn't home…_ Cutter was thinking, but instead he said, "Well, no, nothing that you can do for me, but…I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"To me? What about?"

"Umm… Nothing important. I just thought we should talk about…uhh…stuff." Cutter's face was beet red.

Cecilia giggled, realizing what was going on. "Oh…Alicia asked you to come here, didn't see?"

"What?! How'd you know?"

"That's what her reading said. I thought it'd be Ray or someone, but I'm surprised to see it's you."  
He calmed a bit at her words. "Sorry if you're disappointed." He grinned.

"No, it's okay. You're a nice guy, Cutter. Most people would tell Alicia to get lost."

Cutter blushed again, laughing at himself. "I **do** find it hard to say no to her."

Cecilia didn't seem to notice, or simply didn't mention the blush. "I know what you mean. She's my friend. And a good person."

"Yeah."

"I'll be sure to tell her her reading was accurate."

"Thanks."

Cecilia blushed now. "Feel free to come over to talk anytime you want, Cutter. Not just when Alicia asks you, hmm?"

"Oh, okay! S-Sure!" Cutter was out of there in an instant. _I'm trying hard to avoid Cecilia's affections and here she is telling me to 'come on by' whenever! Man, I do NOT need any more ill will between Jake and myself…_

Alicia was pleased to see Cutter coming back. "Did you talk to Ceci?"

"Yes."

"Thank you! Now my reading came true! Here's your reward, as I promised." She handed him the two 100-gold coins. "Thanks again. If I need anything else, I'll let you know."

Mana also needed help today. Something about some goods vanishing? He hurried over to the general store. "You needed help, Mana?"

"I lost my Aquamarine. I was really looking forwards to selling that in the shop. I know it would fetch a nice price! I'm pretty sure I lost it somewhere here in the shop, though. I'd be so grateful if you could find it."

"Not a problem. You keep looking up here near the register and I'll look in the boxes and such on the main floor."

"Thank you, Cutter."

Cutter looked in the apple bins first, thinking it might have fallen between the fruits, but all was clear. Next he checked the boxes near the stairs to the right of the register area. Nothing in the box… Just as he was about to check somewhere else, he noticed the box looked off center on the ground. Picking it up, he saw a small aquamarine stone on the floor! "Oh." Cutter picked it up, replaced the box and went to Mana. "Is this the little guy?"

"Yes! You found it! Wow! Where was it?"

"Under the wooden box there."

"Thank you! I was looking everywhere for it! Here's 200 gold in return. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know!"

"See you, Mana." Cutter waved to her and Douglas as he left. _Heh, Douglas didn't seem mad at my helping her…Maybe he's starting to like me?_ Checking the board again, he saw something had yet again happened with Roy. He was at the Church today, hanging out with Cammy. "Roy, what's the matter?"

"I was horsing around the house when I broke the Shoulder Piece decoration on the kitchen shelf! If Mom finds out it's broken, she'll throw me out of the house!" The child was positively panicked. "You gotta help me, Cutter! I need to replace it before Mom notices it's broken."

Cutter was laughing even as he scolded Roy. "For crying out loud, you broke something else? I wish you'd learn to control that energy of yours, Roy."

"I try to be careful. Honest!"

The smirk on the boy's face did not match up with his words to Cutter. "I wonder…"

"I swear I do! Please, Cutter. You gotta bail me out!"

"All right, all right. I actually have one at home from fighting an orc viking in the mountains. Wait here, I'll go get it."

"Awesome! I knew you wouldn't let my mom kill me!" Roy cheered.

Cutter was back in no time. "Here you go, kiddo."

"I knew you'd come through for me, Cutter. Thanks for keeping Mom from destroying me with her wrath! You're my hero, Cutter. You deserve something in return. Here, you can have this!" Roy held up a Pudding for Cutter.

Cutter chuckled, taking the desert from the boy. "Be careful the next time you're playing at home, hmm?"

Roy laughed like the little mischief master he was. "I'll try!"

Cutter shook his head as he headed back to the board. Even though it was past lunchtime, he knew he was not going to eat the pudding, but rather sell it. He seemed to not trust that this was the freshest thing in the world. Looking at the bulletin board, he saw one from the mayor Byron about Town Patrol. That sounded interesting, so off he went. "You asked for some help, Byron?"

"Yes, well… It's part of my job as Mayor to protect the peaceful daily lives of our citizens, but I can't do it alone! So I've been looking for people to help me out. What do you say, Cutter? Care to try it out?"

"Of course! I would love to be a part of this."

"Wonderful! Please, go and talk to everyone in town and make sure nothing is wrong. Once you're through, come back and report to me. I'm counting on you, Cutter!"

"No problem, Mr. Mayor!"

"I do hope no one needs your help, of course, but one never knows."

"Of course."

Checking the west side of town was as uneventful as the east side, but at least people thanked him for his concern. The only person who didn't seem to understand what he was doing was Yue. Talking to her was just…talk. She didn't mention anything about anything unusual or usual. So, after he talked to everyone who actually lived in town, he headed back to Byron.

"Ah, well done, Cutter. How are things out there?"

"Nothing to report. Everything seems fine." Cutter smiled, pleased with himself despite the lack of action.

"Good, good, I'm glad to hear it! Another peaceful day in our town!" Bryon laughed. "All thanks to you!"

"I wouldn't go quite that far." Cutter mumbled, a bit surprised by what the mayor had said.

"Well, here is your payment. Just a little show of gratitude! My thanks." Bryon handed Cutter ten 100-gold pieces, 1000 gold in all.

"Thank you very much."

"I'll be looking to you if I need some help again, Cutter!"

Cutter waved goodbye a bit perplexed. Why did Bryon count on him so much, and his own son not at all? _Not really my concern, but they are both my friends, Barrett more than Byron…_

Speaking of whom, Barrett had left a note on the board as well. He needed some other item today. "I wonder what he wants this time…" Cutter found him still hanging out by the general store. "Hey, Barrett."

"What? Do you need something?"

Now he's sounding like Jake… Cutter laughed inside, keeping a straight face for Barrett's sake. "I'm here about your request."

"Okay. This time, I need a Quality Cloth. This won't be difficult for you. You should be used to dealing with monsters by now, right?" Barrett seemed pleased when Cutter nodded. "Goblin Pirates on Blessia Island sometimes have them. Don't take too long, and good luck."

Checking with Alicia to see if tomorrow would be sunny – she assured him it would – Cutter headed off to the island for the cloth. It was still daylight when Cutter left, but almost 8 o'clock at night before he found a Goblin Pirate that had anything. _Guess it's the first thing I give him tomorrow…hope he won't be mad about this, but there was nothing I could do about the monsters having the item or not._

Since it was so late, though, the Woolies and Cockadoodles were out, so Cutter went to Trieste Forest and back to Messina Valley to get them, respectively. The woolies were the ones that actually attacked him to stay away from them, which surprised him a bit. They always ran from battle, but to fight someone who wanted to befriend them?

Ball, Woo, and Li were attackers, while little Baa seemed only interested with fleeing, truth be told. Different personalities among woolies? A possibility… As for Egg, Hen, Roo and Nest, they were all too sweet to fight back. They didn't like the water, so all Cutter had to do was corner them near the river to pet them at his leisure. It was past 11 when Cutter got to the barn to deal with all his new friends then get to bed. _What a long day…_

_Spring 15__th__, Tuesday_

Checking his mailbox was not something Cutter did everyday, but today a flyer was sticking out, plain as day. "Huh…" Looking it over, it was a flyer that all the stores put together about a One Day Monthly Sale. All items being marked down 10% in every store, although there was a star marking that meant some exceptions would apply. He chuckled. _Of course there are exceptions, when does life NOT hand you an exception?_

The Toyherb was finally in bloom, so Cutter harvested them once he was done watering the pasture. He'd stored a bag of Pink Turnip seed in the fridge and, hoping it was still good like Mana said it should be, he planted them for his next harvest. Once that was done, Cutter waited for Barrett at Cherry Blossom Square, near the bench he usually sat at on Tuesdays. "I got the cloth, sorry it took so long."

"That's a big help!"  
"Just what are you using it for, Barrett?"

"Don't you worry about that. It's nothing to do with you."

"I see. It sounds a bit dangerous, though…" _When you don't tell people what you are doing, it has to either be dangerous or embarrassing, and I don't think you're going to use that as a blankie for yourself…_

It was almost as if Barrett had heard Cutter's thoughts. "Enough! Go away! Oh, but take this first. Some cash to keep you quiet! Now don't go poking into my stuff!" He all but shoved the six 100-gold pieces into Cutter's hands.

"You're welcome." Cutter chuckled, earning a rather dark look from Barrett. _Oh, well – friends joke. If he can't take that, he's not ever going to be my friend…_

Checking the board once more, he found the last note from the other day still there, but there were two more…from Alicia and Barrett! "…I think I'm going to help Dorothy first…I'm not too anxious to help with another prophecy and while he wants to give Dorothy something too, I'll give him a chance to do it himself." Cutter found shy little Dorothy at home in the church in her bedroom with Rosalind and Julia. "I'm here about the board's note, you missing something again? I can help you search."

"Ah…well…about the bulletin board…that's all taken care of now… G-Goodbye…" She tried to usher him out.

"Hold on a moment. Did you find what you lost?"

"Ah, well…no…not yet… But it's okay…"

"No it isn't!" If Cutter found one thing about girls unattractive, it was being wishy-washy like this. You put a note up to find something, then say 'oh well. It's gone, never mind?' NO! "Surely you want to get it back, don't you? I'll help you search!"

"Eh?" Seemed he was getting through this time. "Ah, well…that's…very nice of you…"

"The note said it was a Ruby Brooch. Any idea where you dropped it?"

"Well…I think…it may have been in Trieste Forest."

Cutter blinked. "Trieste Forest? What where you doing in such a dangerous place?" He didn't think she swung a weapon. When she only blushed and didn't answer, he continued. "Well, anyway. I'll take a look in the forest for you. Don't worry. If it's there, I'll find it."

"Th-thank you…"

Finding the Brooch wasn't too hard – she hadn't gone too far into the falls area it appeared. All he head to do was avoid the archers there, and he knew how to do that by now. "Here you go."

"Thanks…" Dorothy was blushing bright red. "Thank you for f-finding this for me… Ah…Cutter… Well…Fern says thanks, too…"

"Huh? Who?" He blinked, seeing her hold her deer-like doll closer. "You mean…your doll?"

"Y-Yes…please…take this." She gave him a Sweetie Potato for his troubles.

"Thanks." _Another dish to sell_, he thought to himself. Maybe he just wasn't into eating other people's food? Had he had a bad experience before? He couldn't remember… "Okay, now for Alicia's request…" He groaned.

"Cutter, you made it! I've been waiting for you."

"I'm sure you have…" He said quietly. Louder, he asked, "What's the favor this time?"

"I want you to ask Barrett who he likes."

Cutter backed away a bit. "Look, even if I go ask him, I don't think he'll tell me anything."

"Just ask him straight. Talk to him man-to-man, and you'll be fine."  
_When pigs fly…_ "Right…"

"Okay, now, this is the important part. I need you to get him to say that he likes Dorothy."

"How am I supposed to do that?!" Cutter cried. If Barrett liked Dorothy already, then it would be no problem. If he didn't, then there might be trouble…

Alicia seemed to realize that. "Well, if he already likes her, it shouldn't be a problem, but I honestly don't have a clue what he thinks at all."

Cutter nodded. "Okay, I'll go talk to him, and I'll ask who he likes, but I'm not going to try to change his mind, all right?"

"Fine, I guess. Just do your best."

_I always do. _Cutter just nodded once more and set off.

Barrett noticed Cutter coming over once more. "What do you want?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really, just…"

Barrett cut him off. "If it's nothing, then why are you bothering me?"

"No, I, um…" _Do NOT start sounding like Dorothy!_ "Don't you think we could have an honest conversation, you know, man-to-man?"

Barrett calmed. "Is there something you need to say?"

"Um, well, I was just wondering if there was, uh, anyone that you liked."

"What? What do you care who I like?"

_Maybe so I can stay away from her, asides the fact that Alicia also wants to know?_ Cutter chuckled nervously. "Why? Um, no reason. I guess I don't care, really."

"You're weird."

Cutter laughed at himself. _And I thought she was making me look like a fool with Cecilia…_

"I don't feel like talking about that with you. Not right now, at least."

"R-Right." _STOP the Dorothy imitations!_ With that silent scold, he ran back to Alicia.

"Well?" She all but demanded the second she saw him. "Did you talk to Barrett?"

"Yes."

"And? Who does he like? Is it Dorothy?"

"He wouldn't say." Cutter thought she would be disappointed, and the fact that that thought made him uncomfortable was strange to him.

He was wrong. "I see… So you're saying there's a chance."

He laughed silently. _At least she can look on the bright side of things._

"Thanks, Cutter. Here's the reward I promised." She handed him 250 gold. "This time, I'll throw in 100 logs as a special thanks. According to my reading, wood is going to be very important for you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. If I need anything else, I'll let you know."

Finally, Cutter had to see Barrett one last time today. "Barrett, sorry to be bothering you so much today…I'm here about your newest post. Something you wanted to give Dorothy?"

"She dropped this Star Pendant, but I don't want to bother with returning it myself. I thought it would be better to ask you, since you're not doing much else anyway."

_Harsh…true but still harsh…_ Cutter thought.

"Here, take it. Thanks…"

"No problem." _She's always losing stuff it seems! Wonder how much more stuff she's going to lose this season…_

"Oh…This…This is my…?" Dorothy stammered, seeing the pendant in Cutter's hand.

"That's right. You dropped this, didn't you? Barrett told me to bring it back to you."

"Yeah…yeah, th-thank you…And…thank Barrett for me…"

"I will. See you again soon, Dorothy."

"Okay…" She waved shyly as Cutter left her room this time.

Cutter made his way back to the Square.

Barrett noticed Cutter's hands were empty. "Did you give it to Dorothy?" Cutter nodded. "Thanks."

"Dorothy told me to thank you, too."

"Really? She did?"

That expression made Cutter pause before saying anything else. DID Barrett like Dorothy and was too shy as well to say anything to her or about her?

"Well, here's your reward. Take it." Barrett said after a moment, handing Cutter some Onion Seed. "Bye."

"See you, Barrett." Cutter waved goodbye as he walked off home again before doing anything else.

After giving Rosalind a bunch of grapes to make up for kind of snubbing her to avoid making Ray feel threatened, he checked the weather report with Alicia. Sunny tomorrow – it was fun to see if the rain would come back again! With that, Cutter headed for the island to train. Getting Skulls for the Goblins farther inland was creepy, since why would they really want to carry those? Regardless, they earned gold, so seeing Yue still at the docks there, he sold those, 6 rubies, and some ore to her. He did not wish to sell his Oranges, however. He was still stocking up on the tree fruits.

The forest yielded 3 Aquamarine, the valley gave out 2 Iron and a Wind Crystal, and the mountains had Water Crystals, Bronze, Diamonds and a piece of Silver. _Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself!_ Cutter mentally patted himself on the back. Keeping everything but 2 of the Aquamarines, the bronze and the scrap irons he'd been unlucky in finding, Cutter knew he wouldn't make much, but at least he had plenty in storage…but for what? _I don't know why I'm saving all these things…it's like I know they'll be useful in the future, but since I can't use them now, why bother? I'd be better off selling it all for gold…_

Instead of doing that, Cutter cleared the fields of herbs and weeds then went back to the valley for some night fishing. Catching mostly Chub once more, he was lucky in catching both a Masu Trout and, finally, a Salmon. "Sweet!" It was well after 10 before he got home for bed.

_Spring 16__th__, Wednesday_

After taking care of his fields, which were doing well, and his monsters, which didn't seem to be warming up to him at all, Cutter saw that Dorothy had posted another note on the board. This time, it wasn't a search for a missing item though. All she wanted was a Wooly Furball. "I'll have to get that thing after dark – I don't have one in storage yet…"

Finding Dorothy in the clinic, she explained more on why she wanted the furball. "I think Fern has a fever. So…I need a Wooly Furball from a Wooly…"

"Fern? That doll of yours, Dorothy?"

"Y-Yes…"

Cutter thought for a moment. "She's got…a fever… So…" Snapping his fingers, he grinned a bit. "Ah! Maybe…the cotton inside the doll is rubbing together, creating friction and heat…?" Dorothy just looked at him. "I'm sorry, you didn't want to hear that sort of analysis, did you? So, just defeat a Wooly and get the furball it drops, eh?"

"Th-That's right… Thank you…"

Before being able to do that, Cutter decided to get some more seeds for other areas he had previously tilled – the island, in particular. After buying a 550 Pink Cat Seed, a 1980 Tomato Seed, an 1800 Corn Seed and a 1680 Pumpkin Seed, he only had 9021 gold left, but that was still in the black. Checking with Alicia on the weather tomorrow – sunny – Cutter headed for the island to plant his new crops.

Mining on the island seemed to be a bust today, with only 2 rubies, an amethyst, and a fire crystal, the rest being scrap iron… "Oh well, there are days like this." Cutter shrugged to himself. The mountains were a LOT better – actually found a Sapphire in addition to the diamonds, some bronze, some iron and a water crystal!

Selling his extras to Yue, Cutter turned his mining attentions to the forest and valley. Not great – an aquamarine, some bronze, some iron, and a wind crystal – but not horrible either. These things also went to Yue for her shop, but this time it was more because the other shops would be closing soon.

Finally, 6 o'clock rolled around. "Time to kick some Wooly behind!" Cutter cheered and headed back into the forest. By his sixth wooly, he'd found the furball. "Alright! This'll be just fine. Nice and fluffy." It was about 7:30 when Cutter went to bed…

_Spring 17__th__, Thursday_

Since now Cutter had more plots to take care of, watering was taking up a good portion of his morning. Still, Cutter found time to bring the furball Dorothy had wanted yesterday to her room at the church. "Dorothy, I got the furball here for you."

"Th-thank you…Now Fern can get better… I-Isn't that good news, Fern? Th-Thank Cutter too, okay? Fern says…thank you too. This is…j-just a little something." Dorothy blushed as she handed Cutter a Greenifier. "I hope it helps you out in the fields… I've… I've got some wood here, too… Please, i-if you can use it…" She gave him the now standard 100 logs of wood.

Cutter chuckled. _Everyone and their children, it seems, has wood to give away._ "Thank you, Dorothy. I'm glad you'll be okay now, too, Fern. If you need my help again, just ask!"

"I will…" She was still blushing as Cutter left.

Cutter went back to his barn and milked the Buffamoo and sheared the Woolies. However, when he was ready to get eggs for the Cluckadoodles, he realized he had somehow not gotten a Harvest Basket – the item needed to gather their eggs. "Oh, for the love of…I thought I would just pick them up, but I guess not…I wonder who has that thing?"

Although he was a bit upset the Cluckadoodle eggs couldn't be gathered today, Cutter decided to not stress too much about it and went to the forest, mountains and valley to gather materials and to gather fruits. Once that was taken care of, he went to the pier and got the weather forecast from Alicia – Sunny tomorrow. After paying her, he went to the island for mining and fruit gathering if there was any ready.

There was no fruit ready, but there were seeds that needed to be watered! _I'm getting forgetful – I totally neglected to water here. I didn't even recall planting anything here and I got all four plots seeded… That's right, I planted these yesterday after buying all the seeds! How stupid is that!? _Cutter shook his head at his carelessness as he watered the thirsty earth after defeating the monsters and their generator sphere.

After giving both Rosalind and Tanya Apples as gifts, Cutter decided to head to bed early – asides kicking monster behind, there was nothing much to do today, so why not have a little extra relaxation?

_Spring 18__th__, Friday_

Cutter awoke to shaking. "I-It's an earthquake!" He cried out before the tremors ended. "That was a pretty big one…Phew! Well, it looks like it's over. I hope everyone's okay." Cutter drifted back to sleep for a bit more before getting out of bed for real. _I wonder what caused all that shaking this morning. Alicia didn't say anything about a quake today…_

After checking for damage to either the house or the fields – luckily there was none – Cutter got to business watering the grass and pink turnips on the home fields before brushing his animals and going to the forest first to see what needed gathering and watering. His onions were ready to pick and so were the second patch of strawberries, the first having been harvest yesterday. Since he knew the strawberries grew fast, Cutter sold the newer ones to Yue.

Checking the bulletin board, Cutter saw Tanya had a new quest for him – Goblin Pirates on the island were his next target. Great! I have to go there anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone? Cutter had some time to wait though – it was only 8 o'clock and the houses around didn't open until 9. For Cutter it was a wait, but not overly long.

Tanya smiled seeing Cutter in her shop so early in the morning. "You're here for a new trial, aren't you?" Cutter nodded. "Excellent. This one might give you some trouble, but here we go. Take out 10 Goblin Pirates. Keep your wits about you, you hear? Let your guard down and you'll d-i-e for sure!" She sing-songed the end of her sentence. Cutter laughed uncertainly. "You know the drill. Come back to me once you have defeated at least 10 Goblin Pirates. Blessia Island is the territory of the Goblin Pirate. Do you best!"

Checking with Alicia, she was fine after the quake, just a little puzzled as to why her prediction said nothing about it. She predicted sun for the next day, so Cutter gave her the customary 10 gold coins. He wanted to tease if there would be another quake soon, but decided against it – she was still puzzling over it and that just might make her upset more.

Fighting the Goblins took longer than Cutter would have liked, but it was his own fault – he had to mine after watering the plots there… Getting back, Tanya noticed he didn't have any bandages really on him – and smiled seeing him hold up 2 Quality Clothes, the items the Pirates dropped. "It looks like you've managed to defeat the required 10 Goblin Pirates. How was it? Tough? If you're having a lot of trouble, maybe you should buy a different weapon! I sell all kinds of fabulous weapons here, you know!" She sing-songed the end once more.

Cutter grinned to himself. _Looks like I'm worthy of her weapons now._ He thought, remembering when she said he would test him to see if he was.

Tanya continued. "You made it back safely, though. Well done! Here's your reward. 1,000 gold pieces." She handed them a small bag containing the coins.

"Thank you."

"I'll give you another battle hint now, then. Each dungeon has two types of monster, those that are active in the daytime and those that are active at night. Even if you've been somewhere before, have you been there both in the day time and at night? You might find something new at different times of day. Any time you want to try another challenge, just come on back. Chop your way though those monsters!"

Checking the board once more, he saw some requests from Mana and Jake! _Wonder what he wants?_ Cutter looked over the request. "Come see me…unless yer a chicken." He grumbled. _Jake…why you gotta be that way?_ "Fine, I'm coming!" Cutter all but tore the note from the board in a huff.

Jake looked at him with something like distain. "You've got guts to come talk to me, human."

"I'm here about your request on the bulletin board…"

"What, you can't come talk to me unless you've got some agenda? Just like a human."

_I don't see YOU talking to me unless you got one yourself… _Cutter forced a laugh, even with that thought in his mind. "No, that's not it at all… Anyway, what do you need?"

"I thought I'd give you a chance to prove yourself."

"A chance to prove myself?"

"That's what I just said, isn't it? Now keep your mouth shut and listen. I left a Bronze Bracelet somewhere in Trieste Forest. Find it, and bring it back to me. It's a test to see if you're really as weak as you look."

Cutter blinked, his anger mixed with surprise at this. "You went all the way there to leave that just as a test?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, I guess not…" _It's your neck if the monsters catch you, after all…_

"Good. Hurry up, then. If you don't bring it back, that means you're spineless after all."

Cutter forced another laugh. "I'll bring it back." He ran off to the forest, only to find that Jake had gone all the way through the forest to the area known as the Wooded Paradise AND placed the bracelet right next to the generator there, which produced an Orc Archer and a normal club-wielding Orc. _Of course, why make this easy for me…_

Still, it was easier than Jake probably wanted, since after taking out the Archer, it was a simple matter of avoiding the Orc while taking down the generator then the Orc itself.

Jake seemed a bit surprised at first then covered it quickly. "You brought it back? It took you long enough, but I shouldn't have expected any better from you, human. I guess you did all right." He thought a moment. "Well, I'll let you have your reward anyway." Jake gave Cutter a 100-gold piece coin. "All right? Don't let it get to your head. Now go."

Cutter gave him a nod and a small smile before leaving. _Bet he's more upset that the Orcs didn't eat me than that I brought it back in one piece._

The next request from Mana required him to be a fisherman, as she wanted some salmon? I wonder why she wants that, she doesn't seem to eat it that often…Oh well, what do I know about what she likes and doesn't. I've only seen her be happy when I give her Pink Turnips! "Hey, Mana!" Cutter called as he found her on his farm, picking up the boxes – or rather, contemplating the lack of what was in the box.

"Oh, you saw my post on the bulletin board? Great! I suddenly have this craving to eat Salmon."  
"Sure. I get that all the time." Cutter joked.

"So I'd like you to catch one for me, Cutter!"

"Hm. A fishing challenge, huh?"

"I've heard you can find Salmon at Messhina Valley – Path to Mountain."

"Okay."

"I'll give you 200 gold as thanks. Do your best."

Cutter had just arrived at the spot and was about to face the generator's monsters when he heard someone call for him.

"Hey, Cutter!" It was Mana! "Hee-hee! I'm here!"

"Hey! It's really dangerous here! You should go back to town." _How did you even make it past the generator before this area?!_

"I wanted to watch you fish, Cutter."

"Huh?" Cutter blinked a bit, thinking. "Well…" The thought that stopped him from saying he'd protect her was the thought of what Douglas would do to him if something did happen by accident. "No! There are still monsters all over the place. It's way to dangerous!"

"Oh! I can't change your mind?" She said, teary-eyed.

"No." Cutter hated to see her cry, but he didn't want her hurt, even if Douglas was not a factor.

"So it didn't turn out like the fortune after all…"

"What…? What fortune?" Was Alicia behind this again?

"Ah, no, forget it. You don't need to worry about that."

_Whatever, Miss Can't-tell-a-good-lie._ "Anyway, you can't be here! It's too dangerous! Just head back to town, okay?"

"Okay! I'll be waiting for you to come back!" Finally, Mana headed back home. That was when Cutter remembered he had already fished out a Salmon before. Would that be okay for her? Heading back home to retrieve the fish, Cutter wondered what the heck Alicia had told Mana that would make her enter such a dangerous place. _I'll need to have a little chat with Alicia about safety versus her predictions…_

Mana was back at his farm when he arrived. He popped inside his house, got the fish from the fridge and came back to hand it to her. "Oh! You caught a Salmon! Thanks! I've had such a craving for this! Here's 200 gold in return. Thanks. It must be nice to be able to fish anywhere. I can only fish where there aren't monsters. Looks like they're no problem for you, though! Ha ha!"

Checking the board after talking with people around the town about the quake, Cutter found 3 more requests on the board. The first was from Rosalind. She wanted 'a special kind of apple from a specific place.' Cutter decided to bring along an apple from the forest just in case that's where she wanted it from – really, the only place you could get apples that he knew of.

Rosalind was at the church. "Good day, Cutter. You came to ask me about the message on the board, right? Sorry for this being on such short notice, but let me explain what I'd like you to do. I want you to get your hands on a type of fruit called an Apple. Please bring one to me. Apples grow on apple trees, so all you need to do is pick one, right? My problem is where the apple tree is growing…"

Although he knew all ready where this was going, Cutter decided to be polite and ask, "Where exactly is it growing?"

"In…Trieste Forest. The apple tree is in Trieste Forest – Grassy Path, which has become a monster's den."

"I see."

"It might be a bit dangerous, but… If you do this for me, I'll give you 4000 gold as a reward. So thank you in advance."

_I'd get it for you even without the reward, but hey! Don't knock it, right?_ "Actually, Rosalind, I have one right here, if you'd like it."

"Thank you, Cutter. This is exactly what I was looking for. You… haven't been hurt, right?"

Cutter shook his head no. "I've been to that tree several times – I'm used to picking these things by now." He grinned.

"I'm just glad that you're alright. Well then, here's your payment. Please take it." She handed him the small sack of coins. "Please take this Harvest Basket as well. This is a tool that can be used to gather items from monsters that you've befriended. To be more precise… You can gather honey from pet Hornets and Queen Bees, and eggs from Cluckadoodles. Understood? You can use that to periodically gather eggs and honey from monsters that you've befriended in the dungeons. You can sell those products, or, if you prefer, you can keep them to use in your own cooking. I hope that you'll get a lot of use out of that gift!"

Cutter chuckled. "Believe me, I will! Thanks!" While he did need to harvest the eggs from his feathered friends, Cutter decided to not do so now – he'd wait until the next time the Buffamo and Woolies needed tending before doing so. Let the birds keep the eggs for a bit longer…

Next request was from Rosalind's father, Herman. _A Quest for Lunch, huh? What am I buying for you now? _Cutter wondered.

"Well now, if it isn't Cutter! You saw my request on the bulletin board? Let's get right to it. I am missing a dish essential in any proper de Sainte-Coquille family lunch. I want you to bring me Fried Eggs. Your payment will be 5000 gold. Good luck!"

_Fried eggs? For lunch? Oh, well – I'm not the one eating it!_ Cutter thought as he ran to the grocery store to see if he could buy them there. He could indeed, but they were expensive! 1450 gold pieces for a plate of eggs?! Yikes! _At least he's paying me more than 3 times that amount back…_

"Ahh, just what I'd expect out of you, Cutter. Here's to you never falling short of my expectations. Oh, and heeere's a little something for you." Herman handed him the purse of money he'd promised. Cutter mentally did a little math – he was up to over 25,000 gold now. _SWEET!_

"Thank you, Herman." Cutter saluted him before leaving the mansion.

Adding in what he made selling items to Yue, Cutter was actually past 28,000 gold for the day. Instead of heading to see Cammy about her request today, he decided to go plant another Onion seed he'd been saving in the forest for another harvest. It was late by the time Cutter got home – past 10 o'clock at night. Still – it had been a rewarding day.

_Spring 19__th__, Holiday_

Clearing the fields, watering the grass, chopping wood and gathering the ready Pink Turnips…a busy morning and Cutter had just started on his own farm! Going to the barn, Cutter brushed all his creatures, disappointed that it seemed none of them liked him at all still – however, 2 of the Cluckadoodles, Hen and Nest, DID seem to be friendlier this morning despite the fact he hadn't taken any eggs from any of them yet…

In the forest, the first patch of strawberries was ready for gathering again. _With these berries growing so fast, I'll have plenty of money in no time!_ Cutter cheered to himself. Since Alicia was not at the pier in the morning on holidays, Cutter went straight to the island to water his crops, battle monsters and mine some ore. The mining turned out to be a bust – only a bronze and a ruby out of 9 places to mine…

By the time he got back, Alicia was there – she asked him a question first: What did he think of her?! He didn't know what to answer, so instead changed the subject to what the weather would be like. She answered him: Sunny. He paid her quick and ran! _What the heck was that about? Does she predict I like her…or worse yet, can she just tell?_ Cutter blushed at the thought. If it was a prediction, he could just say to himself, she predicted most stuff strangely, if not just plain inaccurately. If she could tell, that meant he really was in love with her and was not doing a good job of hiding it from anyone other than himself!

Checking the bulletin board, Cutter found the note from Cammy still up there…along with one from Alicia, wanting his honest opinion about something. Cutter blinked and gulped. With a shaking hand, he took down Alicia's note first.

"Hey, Alicia…"

"Hey, Cutter. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Sure, what is it?"

"You know how I tell love fortunes, right? And they always come true, right?"

Cutter made no comment on that one.

Alicia continued. "You might not know this, but sometimes fortune-tellers try to read their own fortunes, too."

"Really?" _Uh-oh…_

"Of course. And sometimes we even try to read our own love fortunes."

"Okay." _Run!_

"And…I tried to read my own fortune. My love fortune."  
_Really – RUN!_ "Right…"

"What do you think I saw?"

"You got proposed to by a wealthy man?" Cutter floundered, thinking of her love of diamonds and "going where the money is".

"A rich man… Well, money is nice, but it can't buy you everything. Most things…but not everything. Wait, when you say a wealthy man, doesn't that narrow it down to Max? He's got no courage, no bravery! That's not attractive at all!"

He didn't know why, but hearing her say that money couldn't buy you everything made him think more of her. "What about a foreign price?" Cutter thought that sounded like someone worthy of her.

"A foreign prince… Sounds nice, but from which country? If it's the prince from the Sechs Empire, then no way!"

_Nice to know you have loyalty to your country, since we are part of Norad and they did try to attack once…_ "Was it a handsome man?"

"A handsome man… Well, looks are important, but there's more to a man than that."

_Good to know._ "So it was just an average guy who proposed to you?" Cutter blushed faintly at that.

"You know, in a lot of ways, average is the best. It's just not very thrilling."

_Don't keep me in suspense, Alicia. _"Well, which was it?"

"It wasn't any of those."  
"So you mean… You don't get proposed to by anyone?" Cutter blinked.

"No, I don't! What's wrong with me? I thought it was attractive! I've got a nice body, my face isn't bad, and my clothes… Well, they are a little eccentric, I supposed, but aren't there a lot of guys that are into that?"

Cutter blushed, sweatdropping. _I don't know if there's a lot, but…you are right about the body, and I personally think your face is more than 'isn't bad"…_

Alicia was still ranting, steamed. "So why am I getting such a lousy fortune?!"

Cutter took one of her hands in his. "Listen, Alicia, it's just a fortune. There's no guarantee that that's how things are going to turn out!"

Alicia gawked at him, still mad, but now for a different reason. " "Just" a fortune? "Just" a fortune?! Are you saying I'm a fraud? My readings are always right!"

Cutter dropped her hand, backpedaling. "Oh, I didn't mean to doubt your fortune telling skills. You're probably right. You're probably going to be single for life!"

Alicia growled. "What?! How could you say that?! You're so mean!"

Cutter sighed. _It looks like I'm just digging myself deeper…_

Alicia finally calmed down, thinking. "Well, maybe you're right. Maybe my amazing prediction powers don't work as well when I use them on myself."

"I'm glad I could be of help." Cutter forced a laugh.

Alicia gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush beet red. "Thanks, Cutter. You're a good listener. But… That means that if I get married, I'll prove my own reading wrong. Think of my professional reputation! Isn't that quite a predicament? Fortune-telling is a hard life sometimes."

_Hopefully you still say yes when…_ Cutter cut himself off there as he walked away quickly. _Was I about to say, "When I ask you to marry me?" Oh, man…I think I've got it bad for her…_

To take his mind off this, Cutter decided to take on Cammy's current Super Training Plan – increasing his luck with a rock-paper-scissors game. "Hey, Cammy, what's up?"

"Ah, you finally came, Cutter! I've got more Super-Cutter training for you today!" She crowed.

"Ahh, so we're doing this again. I wonder what you've got in store for today."

"Well, today we'll be… Raising you luck in battle with Rock Paper Scissors! You have to play me in rock paper scissors! Okay, let's put out our hands…"

"Rock paper scissors, huh? Well, this seems a little bit more fun than last time…"

"Hm? Was our last training session too hard on you, Cutter?" Cammy teased.

"Oh. Nah, it wasn't so bad. Okay, let's do it!"

"All right, let's play 10 matches! Okay! Give it all you've got!" When all was said and done, Cammy announced Cutter had won 5 times out of 10. "That was terrible! Wow, Cutter, you're not so lucky, are you…?"

"Looks like I didn't do so great this time…"

"Well, some days you're luck, and some days you're not, I guess! I guess we already knew that the road to Super-Cutter was gonna be a tough one."

"Let's try again." Cutter grinned. He was having fun now.

"As many times as you'd like!" Cammy cheered. After a few tries, Cutter finally got a rhythm down and finally won his last match with 6 out of 10. "Good job! You're really good at rock paper scissors, Cutter! It's always good to be lucky in any sort of battle."

Cutter laughed. "Well, it certainly doesn't hurt."

"You just got one step closer to becoming Super-Cutter! Because you did so well, I'm gonna give you a super-special reward!" Cammy handed Cutter some Tomato seed.

"Thanks, Cammy."

"Good luck next time! Bye-bye!" With that, Cammy skipped off with Roy to play.

Cutter sold the seed to Yue, along with the ruby, strawberries and scrap iron he'd collected. He was now past 31,000 gold. However, it would take to the end of the day to see how much he really had, as he'd decided to sell his other 7 pink turnips through the box rather than direct to Yue or Douglas.

Since he had nothing better to do and the general store was closed, Cutter decided to plant the Daikon radish seeds that Yue had given him so long ago in the mountain area. _Wonder if they are even still viable…they've been in the fridge for a while now… Well, here's hoping!_

Once that was done and he'd sold what he gathered to Yue and got paid for the Turnips, Cutter was over 33,000 gold. _Good deal, my friends._ While it was still early, he decided to catch up on his sleep from yesterday. He was torn between hoping he dreamed of Alicia and hoping it was anyone else…


End file.
